The Guernsey flag has three bright colors that are very significant to the history of the country and its constitutional association with other nations. The Red Cross, also referred to as the St.George’s cross, holds significance, representing the time when King Edward VIII allowed Guernsey to use the flag in 1936. The gold cross in the middle represents the cross given to William the bastard who is later referred to as William I by the Pope Alexander II. He was offered the cross as a blessing during the conquest of England. The Norman cross inside St. Georges cross symbolizes Guernsey’s Norman roots and at the same time their loyalty to the English crown.


Guernsey’s flag was designed by a committee and not an individual as most nations. Under the leadership of Deputy Bailiff who was Sir Graham Dorey, the Guernsey Flag Investigation committee was given the mandate to come up with a flag that was unique to Guernsey. This came about during the Commonwealth games of 1982 when teams from Guernsey and England were confused for using the same flag. The committee contested the inclusion of green on the flag, a color that holds significance to sports but not to the country’s history. The idea of having Guernsey’s Coat of Arms on the St. Georges cross was also disputed because it would not be identifiable from afar.

Before the year 1985 Guernsey did not have a unique flag. When they needed official display of their flag, they used the flag of England which is the St. George’s cross. When the German’s occupied the Channel Islands, King Edward VIII allowed Guernsey to use England’s flag. The use of all other official British signs and symbols was prohibited in Guernsey except the use of this flag. The consent from King Edward VIII was made official in the year 1936.

U to the year 1985, Guernsey did not have a flag that was unique to their country. They had used the Flag of England since 1936, only to change when the similarity of flags brought confusion of teams during the Commonwealth games of 1982.

This page was last modified on May 1st, 2018

More on Graphicmaps