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Kensington, Prince Edward Island (Canada)

City of Kensington

3:5 image by Eugene Ipavec
Source: Canadian City Flags, Raven 18

Kensington
Current Flag
Coat of Arms

See also:

Kensington

Kensington is a town located 15 kilometres northeast of Summerside in Prince County, Prince Edward Island, Canada; As of 2001, the population was 1,385. The area was first known as Five Lanes End, as roads from five different communities converged at the point. It was renamed Barrett's Cross in 1824 after an early settler that established an inn in the area. In 1862, the town was renamed after Kensington Palace in London and it became a town after the Prince Edward Island Railway's mainline from Charlottetown to Summerside curved through the community.

Kensington today is a service centre for the surrounding farming areas. - Source: Wikipedia: Kensington, Prince Edward Island.
Valentin Poposki, 17 August 2010

Current Flag

Text and image(s) from Canadian City Flags, Raven 18 (2011), courtesy of the North American Vexillological Association, which retains copyright. Image(s) by permission of Eugene Ipavec.

Design

The flag of the Town of Kensington is a modified Canadian pale design, three vertical stripes of red-white-red in proportions of 1:3:1. In the centre is the town’s coat of arms, over two-thirds the height of the flag. The simple shield has a horizontal top and simply-curved sides forming a pointed “U” shape. It is grey (silver) bearing a cross in red with arms one-third the width of the shield. Surmounting the cross is a grey sword pointed upward, surmounted by a flower in white and black in the centre of the cross. Above the shield is a crown in yellow with black details, with four maple leaves as its major elements. Out of the crown rises the top part of a lobster (head and claws) in red with black details. The mantling above and along the sides of the shield is red, black, and grey. Below the shield is a yellow ribbon, with forked ends, inscribed KENSINGTON PEI in black serifed letters.
Rob Raeside, Canadian City Flags, Raven 18, 2011

Symbolism

The major colours of Kensington’s arms are red and white, which have been adopted as the town’s official colours. The red and white flag and its division into three parts recall the national flag. The cross and the sword are elements taken from the arms of London, England. The cross may also refer to Kensington’s one-time name of “Barrett’s Cross”, first adopted in 1824. The flower, a potato blossom, represents the area’s major crop and Kensington’s location in the heart of the agricultural district. The crown is a Canadian civic crown composed of the national symbol, maple leaves. The lobster alludes to the importance of the lobster and fishing industry to Kensington.
Rob Raeside, Canadian City Flags, Raven 18, 2011

Selection

Unknown.
Rob Raeside, Canadian City Flags, Raven 18, 2011

Designer

The arms were designed by D. Tunstall, Director of International Coats of Arms, Heraldic House, Ltd., Toronto (a commercial heraldic design firm) in 1975.
Rob Raeside, Canadian City Flags, Raven 18, 2011

Coat of Arms

image located by António Martins-Tuválkin, 21 August 2010
Source: City of Kensington

The arms seem to be an ogival point shield Argent on a cross Gules a sword of the field surmounted by potato flower of the same; helm argent crowned with a Canadian maple leaf crown Or; mantling Gules and Argent; for crest a lobster Gules issuant from the crown.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 17 August 2010