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West Midlands (England)

Region of England

Last modified: 2021-05-29 by rob raeside
Keywords: west midlands |
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image by Nate McGarry, 13 November 2017
Armorial Banner of the Former West Midlands Council (1974-1986)

On this page:

• Introduction: What is the West Midlands?
• Description of West Midlands Banner
• Former West Midlands County Council
• West Midlands Coat of Arms
• West Midlands Combined Authority Logos
• West Midlands Police
• West Midlands Fire Service
• 143rd West Midlands Brigade

• Birmingham
• Black Country
• Bloxwich Town
• Coventry
• Dudley (Metropolitan Borough)
• Finchfield
• Halesowen
• Kingswinford
• Pelsall
• Willenhall
• English County, Regional and Municipal Flags
• England
• United Kingdom

Introduction: What is the West Midlands?

The West Midlands is a geographical region of England, and classified as both a Metropolitan and Ceremonial county in a way that only the strange English county tier system could manage. Located in west-central England, since 2019 it has been governed by a combined authority and is the second most populous region in England after Greater London. It was created in 1974 under the Local Government Act of 1972 to cover parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. It includes seven metropolitan boroughs: Birmingham, Coventry, Wolverhampton, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull and Walsall. It is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of the Territorial Units for Statistics, or NUTS (well named), for statistical purposes. The region today consists of the counties of Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands and Worcestershire. The largest city in the region is Birmingham. If your eyes have begun to cloud over, welcome to the club.
It covers the western half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. As a metropolitan county it exists in law, and had/has a Lord Lieutenant and a High Sheriff. Between 1974-1986, the West Midlands County Council was the administrative body covering the region/county, but this was abolished 1986, and all its metropolitan boroughs became independent unitary authorities. In 2016 a new administrative body called the West Midlands Combined Authority was created. It is headed by a directly elected Mayor of the West Midlands. Other "county-wide bodies" include the West Midlands Police, the West Midlands Fire Service, and a Transport for West Midlands.
Historically, the settlements of the West Midlands have been important centres of commerce and industry built around wool and cloth manufacturing. The cities of Coventry, Birmingham and Wolverhampton have been important since the Medieval times. Their traditions of the metal-working date back to the 16th century, especially in the manufacturing of small arms, locks, and in brass working. The coal and iron ore deposits in the Black Country area provided a ready source of raw materials for the Industrial Revolution. Coventry, besides its rich cultural past, became an important centre of bicycle and automobile manufacturing in the early 20th century. The West Midlands region also has five Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (the Wye Valley, Shropshire Hills, Cannock Chase, Malvern Hills, and Cotswolds). It includes the birthplace of William Shakespeare (Stratford upon Avon), the birthplace of Rugby football (Rugby), and the birthplace to author George Eliot (Nuneaton).
Pete Loeser, 24 May 2021

Description of the West Midlands Banner

The West Midlands comprises the following districts: City of Wolverhampton, Dudley, Walsall, Sandwell, city of Birmingham, Solihull, and the city of Coventry.
It has a black and yellow flag.
Nate McGarry, 13 November 2017

You can see the actual waving flag here on the British County Flags website. (source). The image by Nate McGarry, is used by Wikipedia and located here.
The above mentioned source claims the following regarding such flag as not being a County flag: "The armorial banner of the former West Midlands Council (official defunct website) is not a county flag, and West Midlands is not a county. The above banner was formed from its coat of arms and only ever represented this administrative body. The region of the council covered territory in Warwickshire, Staffordshire and Worcestershire and residents of these localities should fly these county flags.
Esteban Rivera, 14 November 2017

The armorial banner of the former West Midlands Council is not registered in the Flag Institute's UK Flag Registry as either the flag of the region or that of the combined authority, but has been seen displayed in the region.
Pete Loeser, 24 May 2021

Former West Midlands County Council 1974-1986

image by Pete Loeser, 13 November 2017

This short lived administration only existed for twelve years from 1974 to 1986. The territories covered by the West Midlands local authority have been part of these respective counties (i.e. Birmingham, Black Country, Dudley (Metropolitan Borough), Finchfield, Halesowen, Kingswinford and Pelsall) for the best part of a thousand years and continue to be so. The West Midlands (County) Council (April 1, 1974-March 31, 1986) (source) was simply an administrative convenience, an arrangement which has been completely replaced by a series of smaller local authorities and boards, and only ever represented this administrative body, and was abolished along with five other metropolitan county councils and the Greater London Council by the Local Government Act of 1985 (which had been created by the Local Government Act 1972) and the constituent metropolitan boroughs effectively became unitary authorities, which "...is a type of local authority that has a single tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area or performs additional functions which elsewhere in the relevant country are usually performed by national government or a higher level of sub-national government" (source).
Esteban Rivera, 14 November 2017

West Midlands Coat of Arms

Coat of Arms     Arms
images located by Pete Loeser, 13 November 2017

These arms of the West Midlands County Council became redundant with the abolition of the council in 1986 (although similar arms are still used by the West Midlands Fire Service). "The gold and black of the shield represent industry. The fretwork across the centre forms the letters "W M" while the bars represent strength. The supporters, two phoenix, are rising from flames symbolising rebirth and each bird has a chain around its neck which represents the chain-making industry of the West Midlands. A unique feature is the use of basket-like crowns from which the flames issue. Another unique feature is the griffin (which appears in the coat of arms of the Lord Lieutenant and in some of the West Midlands District Councils arms) holding an arrow downwards. The arrow, symbolising movement, refers to the County Council being the Transportation Authority for its area. The motto is mainly taken from mottoes of the Districts."

Official blazon:

• Arms: Or between two bars gemel as many barrulets of three points interlaced sable.
• Crest: Upon a helm with a wreath Or and sable a gryphon sejant erect argent beaked and forelegs sable supporting therewith an arrow palewise barb downwards gold.
• Supporters: two phoenix argent each rising from flames proper within a crown vallary sable beaked and about the neck a chain pendant reflexed across the breast also sable.
• Motto: "Forward in Unity."

West Midlands Combined Authority Logos

       
images located by Pete Loeser, 13 November 2017

"Following the abolition of the [West Midlands] county council, some county-wide bodies continued to exist, which were administered by various joint-boards of the seven districts, among these were the West Midlands Police, the West Midlands Fire Service and the West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive (branded as Centro 1990-2005 and rebranded Network West Midlands 2005-2016). WMPTE was dissolved in 2016 following the establishment, on June 17, 2016 (of) a new administrative body, the West Midlands Combined Authority, created for the county, under the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009, which created several other combined authorities (i.e. Manchester in England. The new body has powers over transport, economic development, skills and planning. A new directly elected position of Mayor of the West Midlands was created in 2017 to chair the new body. The first Mayoral election was held in May 2017. The WMCA "are 18 local authorities and four Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) working together to move powers from Whitehall to the West Midlands and its locally elected politicians) and its transport arm, Transport for West Midlands (TfWM)
Sources: West Midlands Combined Authority, Wikipedia: West Midlands Combined Authority, and Wikipedia: West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive
Esteban Rivera, 14 November 2017

The West Midlands Combined Authority now combines the Metropolitan Councils of Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall, and Wolverhampton.
Pete Loeser, 13 November 2017

West Midlands Police

    
images by Pete Loeser, 13 November 2017

The West Midlands Police are the territorial police the metropolitan county of West Midlands, which includes the cities of Birmingham, Coventry, Wolverhampton and the Black Country The WMP is the third largest force in England and Wales - only the Metropolitan Police and Greater Manchester Police are larger. Prior to becoming the West Midlands Police the region was served by a total of six smaller constabularies. They were the Birmingham City Police (1839-1974), Coventry Police (1836-1974), Dudley Borough Police (1920-1966), Walsall Borough Police (1832-1966), West Midlands Constabulary (1966-1974), and the Wolverhampton Borough Police (1837-1966).
Pete Loeser, 24 May 2021

West Midlands Police Logos

   
images located by Pete Loeser, 13 November 2017

West Midlands LGBT Police Network

image by Pete Loeser, 13 November 2017
image based on this photo.

The four regional police forces in the West Midlands are working in partnership in an effort to improve communication with our LGBT employees and straight allies in a program called "Police With Pride" or the West Midlands LGBT Police Network.
Pete Loeser, 24 May 2021

West Midlands Fire Service

WMFS Flag     WMFS Badge
images by Pete Loeser, 13 November 2017

The West Midlands Fire Service (WMFS) is the fire and rescue service serving the Metropolitan county of West Midlands. The service is the second largest in England, after London Fire Brigade. The service was created in 1974. Before that each of the county boroughs in the West Midlands area - Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Solihull, Walsall, Warley, West Bromwich and Wolverhampton - had their own fire brigades. The largest belonged to the City of Birmingham. When the WMFS merger happened, parts of Warwickshire Fire Brigade were added.
Pete Loeser, 24 May 2021

West Midlands Fire Service Logo

image by Pete Loeser, 13 November 2017

West Midlands Fire Service Thin Red Line Flag

image by Pete Loeser, 13 November 2017

The West Midlands Fire Service announced the death of firefighter Andrew Moore, who took his own life, in 2020 and resulted in this thin red line design.
I'm not quite sure if it was actually made or vexi-vapour.
Source: ITV News.
image by Pete Loeser, 13 November 2017

143rd West Midlands Brigade

image by Pete Loeser, 13 November 2017
Based on this image.

The 143rd Infantry Brigade was first raised as the "Warwickshire Brigade" and later fought in World War I and World War II. The brigade was assigned to the South Midland Division, one of fourteen divisions of the peacetime Territorial reserves. In the First World War the brigade fought in both France and Italy. During the Second World War the brigade served in Belgium, France, and later on the home front in England. It was disbanded in 1946, but called back into active duty raised in 1984, moving to Shrewsbury in 1986. Its area of responsibility included Staffordshire, Hereford and Worcester, Warwickshire and the West Midlands. It was once again disbanded in 2014.
Pete Loeser, 24 May 2021

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