image by Tomislav Todorovic, 9 January 2022
Last modified: 2022-02-05 by rob raeside
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Do Anglican Dioceses in Britain have banners of arms or some other armorial
flag to go with their (mostly quite stylish) coats of arms??
António Martins-Tuválkin, 18 December 2005
From what I understand, for Anglican dioceses there exists a pattern, namely
the flag is white with a St George cross, and in the canton / upper hoist corner
the coat of arms of the diocese. This means possibly just the small coat of
arms, i.e. the shield. See the
Diocese of
Chichester site for an example.
Dirk Schönberger, 19 December 2005
In the main, that is right. However, at Diocesan Church House in North
Hinksey, Oxford, they fly a St. George's Cross flag defaced in the upper hoist
with the logo of the Diocese and not the shield from its arms.
This flag is not flown every day, rather on holy days and so on. As far as I
recall, the one used on the flag is black, rather than blue. Their coat of arms
can be viewed at
http://www.oxford.anglican.org/detail.php?id=1242 at the bottom of the page,
with a blazon.
Colin Dobson, 19 December 2005
The correct usage is for Anglican churches to fly the St George's Cross with the arms of their diocese in the canton. Many Anglican churches - perhaps depending on the diocese - fly an undefaced St George's Cross. (Here in Bristol diocese, and in the neighbouring diocese of Bath and Wells, I have only seen undefaced St. George's Crosses until a year or so ago, when St. Mary Redcliffe - the grandest parish church in Bristol - started flying a correctly defaced St George's Cross with the shield of the Bristol Diocese in the canton.)
As far as I know, Anglican dioceses don't have banners of arms, but, this
being unregulated England, there may be exceptions. As the
Diocese of
Chichester site says, individual bishops may have arms and may use banners
of arms but these would not be the banner of the diocese. It is also debateable
whether the defaced St George's Crosses which should be flown (and sometimes are
flown) on individual churches could be called the flag of the diocese in a way
analogous to a sub-territorial flag (though the
Diocese of
Chichester site does use this term). I would be surprised if, for instance,
such a flag was flown at the relevant Bishop's palace. I would see them rather
as locally differenced flags of the Church of England as a whole.
André Coutanche, 20 December 2005
I have spoken to the College of Heralds regarding the question of banners of
the diocesan arms, and they say that the arms would have been granted to the
dean and chapter (of the cathedral), however, there is nothing in the law of
arms which prevents the present bishop from flying a banner of those arms from
his palace, or indeed, impaling them with his own personal arms and flying the
resulting banner should he so wish. As a matter of courtesy (if not of policy) I
would imagine that a bishop would run it past the dean and chapter first, but I
cannot imagine any circumstances (or grounds) for them to refuse permission or
even object (except those of expense)?
Christopher Southworth, 20 December 2005
I find the College's answer puzzling. The arms of a cathedral itself would be
granted to the dean and chapter, but I believe the arms of each diocese were
granted (actually confirmed in the case of most old dioceses) to the bishop of
the time and to his successors in office. Bishops of the Church of England are
corporations sole and, unless I'm mistaken, it is in the capacity of a
corporation sole that the bishop applies for and is granted arms. That should
mean that the incumbent bishop "owns" the arms of the diocese and could fly a
banner of them in his own right. The dean and chapter could fly a banner of the
cathedral's own arms, but not those of the diocese (unless, of course, the
bishop was actually present at the cathedral). That, at least, is the logic of
how I have understood English ecclesiastical heraldry. As I say, that's why the
College's answer is surprising.
Joe McMillan, 20 December 2005
Passing by St Mary Redcliffe yesterday, I had a good look at the flag [Diocese
of Bristol] and it isn't 3:5 - it's almost certainly 1:2. I'm not suggesting
that all C. of E. diocesan flags are 1:2. There was a programme on television
last night ("A Passion for Churches", BBC2) about St Mary's, East Raynham,
Norfolk, which included a shot of the flag of the Diocese of
Norwich flying from the tower. This seems to be 3:5, though it does show the
shield taking up more of the height of the canton than we have in [some of] the
images [on this page]. This being unregulated England - ratios can vary.
André
Coutanche, 2 March 2006
image by Tomislav Todorovic, 9 January 2022
The arms of the Diocese of Bath and Wells are: Azure a saltire per saltire
quarterly counterchanged Or and argent [1]. The shield of arms is added to the
canton of the St. George's Cross flag to make the diocesan flag, the details of
the design, such as the size and shape of the shield and exact form of the
saltire, varying somewhat [2, 3].
Sources:
[1] Heraldry of the World
website:
https://www.heraldry-wiki.com/heraldrywiki/wiki/Diocese_of_Bath_and_Wells
[2] Bath Echo website:
https://www.bathecho.co.uk/local-news/abbey-flying-the-bath-wells-flag-48441/
[3] Timeline - World History Documentaries channel at YouTube - How The
Anglo-Saxon Settlement Changed British Culture (flag visible @41:53-41:57):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErA2hDJwWVY
Tomislav Todorovic,
9 January 2022
located and resized by Colin Dobson, 22 December 2005
The Diocese of Bradford introduced a specific exception on 19 June 2004, as
follows:
www.bradford.anglican.org (scroll down to "John and Malcolm "raised the
flag""). The image of the flag can be found
here.
Earlier on the page, it is said: "And we were assured that, though the Earl
Marshall said in 1938 that the flag of St George is the one to fly on churches,
this was never made compulsory."
Colin Dobson, 22 December 2005
image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 22 December 2005 modified by André
Coutanche, 2 March 2006
Passing by St Mary Redcliffe yesterday, I had a good look at the flag and its
dimensions are almost certainly 1:2.
André
Coutanche, 2 March 2006
The flags flying from Anglican Churches in the Provinces of Canterbury and
York have been suggested by the Earl Marshal of England. As I understand it this
means that the flag from Bristol as given by Andre is correct. The mitre and
other parts of a full achievement of arms are not meant to be in the canton,
from my reading of the rules.
Michael Carchrie Campbell, 4 March 2006
image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 22 December 2005
The arms of the Province of Canterbury are "Azure an archiepiscopal staff
Argent ensigned with a cross formy Or surmounted of a pallium Argent edged and
fringed Gold, charged with four crosses formy fitchy Sable".
James Dignan, 22 December 2005
The archbishops of Canterbury fly a banner of arms of their diocese, as shown
in the World Flags Database.
Dirk Schönberger, 23 December 2005
See also
image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 22 December 2005
See also
image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 23 May 2008
image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 23 May 2008
Based on http://www.diochi.org.uk/images/crstdbhi.gif.
image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 22 December 2005
See also
image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 8 January 2006
Some churches in the Church of Ireland, fly a St. Patrick's Cross Flag with
the shield of the Diocesan arms in chief above the centre of the Cross. The one
such flag that I had the pleasure of hoisting and lowering regularly was in the
ratio 1:2
Michael Carchrie Campbell, 4 March 2006
image by André
Coutanche, 2 March 2006
There was a programme on television last night ("A Passion for Churches",
BBC2) about St Mary's, East Raynham, Norfolk, which included this shot of the
flag of the Diocese of Norwich flying from the tower. This seems to be 3:5,
though it does show the shield taking up more of the height of the canton than
we have in our other images on this page. (The indistinguishable shield can be
seen on the diocesan website at
www.norwich.anglican.org/the_diocese.htm.
André
Coutanche, 2 March 2006
image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 20 December 2005
image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 20 December 2005
ox.gif)
image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 20 December 2005
At Diocesan Church House in North Hinksey, Oxford, they fly a St. George's Cross flag defaced in the upper hoist
with the logo of the Diocese [top flag] and not the shield from its arms [middle
image].
This flag is not flown every day, rather on holy days and so on. As far as I
recall, the one used on the flag is black. Their coat of arms
can be viewed at
http://www.oxford.anglican.org/detail.php?id=1242 at the bottom of the page,
with a blazon.
Colin Dobson, 19 December 2005
Oxford is a unique case, in that Christ Church Cathedral is the only church
in the Church of England or the world, as the college web site states - which is
both a cathedral and a college chapel. The Dean of Christ Church is
simultaneously the head of Christ Church College, one of the largest in the
University of Oxford and the Dean of the Cathedral. There is a coat of arms for
the Cathedral:
http://www.chch.ox.ac.uk/modules/standard/viewpage.asp?id=479 and a separate
arms for the Diocese of Oxford
http://www.oxford.anglican.org/images/logos/arms.jpg, but note that it is
stated on the Diocese's web site that this is "not official".
There is no provision for flying a flag in the Cathedral buildings themselves,
rather there is a flagpole at the front of the college, facing on to St Aldates
Street, where there is ordinarily flown a banner of the college arms, which can
be seen on the college's home page here:
http://www.chch.ox.ac.uk but only on certain days connected with the college
or the university, such as when a graduation ceremony is held.
Colin Dobson, 21 December 2005
See also
![[Flag of Diocese of Rochester]](../images/g/gb_ce-ro.gif)
by Mike Oettle and António Martins-Tuválkin, 8 January 2006
The flag to be flown in the diocese of Rochester is the flag of St George with, in the canton, a shield of the arms: Argent on a saltire gules an escallop or.
Mike Oettle, 17 January 2002
See also
![[Flag of Diocese of St. Albans]](../images/g/gb_cestalb.gif)
image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 12 August 2008
It is a white flag with a red St. George cross. In the upper hoist is the
coat of arms of the diocese. The diocese of St. Albans is the one north of
London.
Source: I spotted this flag on top of St. Johns in Lemsford, near
Welwyn Garden, on 3 May 2007
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 12 August 2008
![[Shield of Diocese of St. Albans]](../images/g/gb)cestalb.jpg)
image located by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 12 August 2008
Description of coat of arms:
The blue shield is divided by a golden
(=yellow) saltire. The whole is superimposed by a sword in natural colour
pointing to the top. The sword is topped by a golden coronet, maybe one of a
count, with pearls on its tops .The shield is topped by a golden mitre and
flanked by two yellow ribbons.
Source: I shot this photo on 5 May 2007 in
Harpenden.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 12 August 2008
See also:
![[Flag of Diocese of Worcester]](../images/g/gb_ceworc.gif)
image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 12 August 2008
It is a white flag with a red St. George cross. In the upper hoist are
ten red balls in Pythagorean tetraktys-formation, i.e. 10 balls triangular 4
over 3 over 2 over 1.
Source: I spotted this flag on top of Worcester
cathedral in August 1999.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 12 August 2008
![[Shield of Diocese of Worcester]](../images/g/gb)ceworc.jpg)
image located by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 12 August 2008
Description of coat of arms:
The 10 red balls are placed in a silver
shield topped by a silver mitre.
Source: website of
diocese of Worcester
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 12 August 2008
The diocese of York flies a banner of arms, shown at
World Flags Database.
Dirk Schönberger, 23 December 2005
There is a chart which purports to show all the diocesan arms at
http://whitelionsociety.org.uk/WLS_Dioces_of_England_arms.jpg. However, I
count only 43 arms on it, and according to several sites, including
Wikipedia and the
Church of England website there are
44 dioceses [not counting the diocese of Europe]. The actual chart is available
from the White Lion
Society,
an organization formed to support the College of Arms.
Ned Smith, 21 December 2005
