^{This page is part of © FOTW Flags Of The World website}

Guernsey flag before 1985

Bailiwick of Guernsey

image by Vincent Morley

Description of the flag
Flag used at sports event

See also:

Description of the flag

Doctors in Guernsey seem to have had an interest in flags. In 1905 the Medical Officer of Guernsey wrote asking what was the correct flag to fly ashore. The Home Office replied that no particular flag was defined by warrant and that the matter was left to custom and good taste, adding that the Union Flag, or Union Jack, had been used indiscriminately for a very long period throughout Great Britain.

Then in 1924 a doctor at the Health Office in Guernsey wrote asking if the St George's cross flag could be flown from the stern of a vessel. The Naval Law Branch investigated and were surprised to find that, in Guernsey, due to an error, a white flag with a red St George's cross could be flown as an ensign.

In 1906 Guernsey had applied to the Home Office to use certain arms and also the flag of St George. The Home Office were interested only in the arms and not in the flag. The arms were submitted to the King for his approval and the Lt-Governor of Guernsey was then told that, "the King had been pleased to approve his proposals." The Governor interpreted this as meaning that the flag had also been authorised. This was an embarrassing mistake and the Home Office "admitted the blunder and hoped to be excused from glossing it officially." The Admiralty ruled that only the plain Red Ensign could be flown by Guernsey vessels.
Public Record Office HO 45/10061/B2262 and ADM 1/8667/165.
David Prothero, 31 January 2001

Flag used at sports event

image by Rob Raeside, 14 March 2015

An image from a Commonwealth Games ceremony, possibly Edmonton in 1978, shows an unusual flag for Guernsey at the centre. This is obviously before the adoption of the current flag in 1985.
Jason Saber, 15 February 2015