The Flag of the City of London: Design, History and Where It Flies

The flag of the City of London is one of the oldest civic flags in Britain, and one of the most often misunderstood. It is not the flag of London as a whole: it belongs only to the City of London, the historic "Square Mile" governed by the City of London Corporation and the Lord Mayor. Greater London and the Mayor of London have no flag of this kind.

The design

The flag is a banner of the City's arms: a white field with a red St George's Cross, and a red sword upright in the top corner nearest the pole (the canton). The City's own heraldic description is "Argent, a cross gules, in the first quarter a sword in pale point upwards of the last": white, with a red cross, and in the first quarter an upright sword, point up, also red. [1]

Because the sword must always point upwards, when the flag is hung vertically as a banner the sword is turned so that it still points up.

The sword of St Paul

The sword is the sword of St Paul, the City's patron saint, who was martyred by beheading. St Paul has been a symbol of the City since around the 13th century; early seals showed the full figure of the saint, which was later reduced to his emblem, the sword. [1]

The Walworth dagger legend

A popular story says the "sword" is really the dagger with which Lord Mayor Sir William Walworth struck down Wat Tyler, leader of the Peasants' Revolt, in June 1381. Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable repeats the tale, and a verse at Fishmongers' Hall celebrates it. [2] The City's own historians reject it: the arms were already in use in April 1381, two months before Tyler was killed. On 17 April 1381 the old City seal was declared "ill-befitting the honour of the City" and Walworth commissioned a new one, the origin of the arms as we know them. [1]

The full coat of arms, with its two silver dragon supporters, is later; the dragons were added in the 17th century. [2] The City's motto, DOMINE DIRIGE NOS ("Lord, direct us"), appears beneath the shield.

Where the flag flies today

Mansion House and Guildhall

The City flag is flown over Mansion House, the official residence of the Lord Mayor, and over Guildhall, the City's town hall. [2] Guildhall has four flagpoles: two projecting from the North Wing entrance, one on the Livery Hall entrance in Basinghall Street, and a vertical pole on the Dance Porch roof overlooking Guildhall Yard, which the City also uses to fly flags for national and community events. [3]

Tower Bridge

Tower Bridge is one of five Thames bridges owned and maintained by Bridge House Estates (now known as City Bridge Foundation), the charity whose sole trustee is the City Corporation. The others are London Bridge, Blackfriars, Southwark and Millennium Bridges. [4] On Tower Bridge the City flag flies beside the Union Flag on the western high-level walkway, facing upstream, while the four flags on the towers are the blue-and-white flags of the bridge trust itself. [2]

Beyond the City

In February 2011 the City flag was flown alongside the Union Flag outside the Department for Communities and Local Government in Victoria, on loan from the Association of British Counties. [5]

The Lord Mayor's flag

The Lord Mayor has a personal variant of the City flag, defaced with the Lord Mayor's coat of arms. There is a plain version and a ceremonial version with a fringe; a gold-fringed version is used indoors. [2]

On the £1 coin

In 2010 the Royal Mint began its "Capital Cities" series of round pound coins with a London design by Stuart Devlin. The reverse bears the coat of arms of the City of London Corporation, the St George's Cross with the sword of St Paul, and the edge is inscribed with the City motto, DOMINE DIRIGE NOS. [6]

Fly the City of London flag

Midland Flags sells the City of London flag in a range of sizes.

Sources

1. City of London Corporation, "The City Arms" (City of London Record Office). Archived copy.
2. Flags of the World, "City of London (England)", last modified 16 July 2022.
3. City of London Corporation, "Guildhall Complex Flagpole Report", Corporate Asset Sub Committee, 19 July 2021.
4. City Bridge Foundation, "Our bridges".
5. GOV.UK, "City of London flag flies at Department for Communities and Local Government", 14 February 2011.
6. CoinNews, "2010 £1 London Coins Begin New UK Cities Series", 10 March 2010.