Flags - and the Flag of the Fens

I very very proud to come from the Fens and I am a supporter of the Flag of the Fens campaign which is trying to get recognition for the flag which you can see on the left. For those that don't know, the lion on the flag is in recognition of the term "Fen Tigers" which was used by Sir Cornelius Vermuyden, the Dutch Engineer who masterminded the draining of the Fens, to describe the Fenland people and the robust way in which they stood up against the draining project.

To date, the Conservative run Fenland District Council have failed to give the flag its support. The Council minutes where this was last discussed make it clear that the Flag has already been endorsed by Peterborough City Council, East Cambridgeshire District Council and South Holland District Council.

Why is this important. Well, it looks pretty certain that Fenland is likely to be merged with Peterborough in a few years time (see my separate blog post about this). One of the things we need to do is make sure we don't get lost within a Greater Peterborough Council; one way is to strengthen our own identity as part of the Fens, an official flag would be a step in the right direction.

As we are talking about flags, I ought to address another issue. One of the questions I have been asked by a couple of people whilst doing the rounds in the last week or so is what I think about the Raise the Colours campaign that has seen Union flags and England flags draped from lampposts and bridges around the country.

Those that don't know, it might be worth mentioning that I come from a military background. I have three brothers who served in the military, I served for seven years and my dad (who was also previously a Whittlesey Town Councillor), served for thirty seven years. In fact I did some adding up before writing this post and I worked out that between me, my brothers and my dad we have over 90 years of military service. I love seeing our flags and I am very proud to be British and English. However, what made me uncomfortable about the Raise the Flags campaign was that it was driven by some people that I certainly would not want to be associated with. Don't take my word for it - read this.

I find it very, very bizarre that the Conservative led Fenland District Council all-but endorsed the Raise the Colours campaign and yet cannot find it within themselves to give recognition to the Flag of the Fens to help it on its way to official recognition.