How Dorset was recognised with its own flag nearly 20 years ago

Dorset is home to the steep, cobbled Gold Hill, made famous by an iconic 1970s Hovis bread commercial, poet and novelist Thomas Hardy, the Jurassic Coast and a 180ft (55m) hill figure depicting a nude male. Nearly 20 years ago, the county's unique blend of local geography, Anglo-Saxon history, military heritage and religious tradition was recognised with its own flag. But agreeing its design was no simple matter. Graham Bartram, chief vexillologist of the Flag Institute, found himself in the midst of a frantic period for the county's flag, as BBC Radio Solent discovered. "All I did was say, 'I think we need to legitimise the process and actually get a flag approved'," he said. "I was invited to be a member of the panel that shortlisted the designs for the public vote. "We went from having very few counties, such as Cornwall, having a flag to every English county having a flag in a fairly short period of time. In terms of how fast flags move, that was a grand prix." Town crier Chris Brown was flying his own flag at the time, endeavouring to get the county council on board with a design by Stephen Coombes and David White, named after St Wite, the patron saint of Dorset. It consists o