A flag for London?
February 20th, 2004Simon Hughes, Lib Dem candidate for London mayor, has launched a competition for a flag for London (I shan’t sneer about the Lib Dems being irrelevant this time, I promise, especially as I quite like Simon Hughes as a person).
I don’t think London really does need its own flag (after all, it owns about 99% of the rest of England), and given the multitude of identities and races in London it would be quite hard coming up with one that unifies all. But with flags for Devon, Cornwall and now the North-West, I can see why you might want one for London too.
Hughes’s own designs are, well, a bit crap. The first is a mish-mash of various things (tube sign, football, a pigeon), which would look terrible from a distance, while the second and third don’t really get away from the English flag very much - that and the arrowheads in the centre kinda form a Nazi Iron Cross, which is never good. The fourth is vaguely palatable but not particularly striking in any way.
My recommendation is a bold, simple symbol that says “London” unambiguously - why not the congestion charge logo? Everyone will recognise it…
February 20th, 2004 at 20:32:24
How about a picture of some “Cockney”s doing something “cheeky”?
February 22nd, 2004 at 20:31:12
Chris,
The flag for London is, as you say, a bit crap. Far better my competion over at http://www.tom-watson.co.uk. Design a flag for the Liberal Democrats. I’ve already had loads, well, three entries. With your design skills, you could scoop the prize.