BBC Radio Leicester presenter Tony Wadsworth is campaigning for Leicester to have its own flag. Leicestershire already has one, but could you design one to represent the city?
The flag should represent the city, but what that means is up to you! It could be based on Leicester’s history, sports teams, diversity or anything else that you think is central to the city.
Take a look at some of the designs that have already been submitted..
The competition is open to all individuals, groups, schools and universities. The best design will be featured on the BBC Leicester website and the winning entry will be made into a flag, which will hopefully be flown with pride across the city.
So if you’ve got a design for Leicester’s flag, email it to or send it to:
Tony Wadsworth
BBC Radio Leicester
9 St. Nicholas Place
Leicester
LE1 5LB
The closing date for entries is Friday 16 March 2007, so make sure you’ve sent your design to Tony by then!
A bit of background
Like most counties, Leicestershire already has its own flag.
It is a banner of the county council’s arms, with each quarter representing well-known people in the county’s past like Sir Robert Dudley (who was made Earl of Leicester by Queen Elizabeth in 1564) and Simon de Montfort.
After a campaign by BBC Radio Derby presenter Andy Whittaker, a flag for the city of Derby was designed by a listener and made into a flag, so Tony’s hoping the same will be possible for Leicester.
The leader of Leicester City Council, Roger Blackmore, has backed the campaign to create a flag for Leicester and suggests it should have a purple background to acknowledge the city’s Roman heritage.
Sir Peter Soulsby, the MP for Leicester South, goes further and suggests the flag should have a background of blue (representing football), green (for the rugby) and white (for the cricket) with the city’s Coat of Arms in the centre.
Contributors on the BBC Leicester message board have also suggested that Leicester’s ethnic diversity, the area’s fox-hunting background or a recognisable landmark like the Clock Tower would be good aspects of the city to feature as well.