deliriouslove1970. The life & times of Gary and Denise Flanders. (Free and worth every penny. If you would like to compliment the editor, send to garytheflan@deliriouslove1970.com. If you would like to complain, call your mother.)

“Sutherland (Scottish Gaelic: Cataibh) is a historic county,  [Originally called a shire, they were ways to organize Scotland and they were ruled over by a person called the Sheriff] registration county [In Great Britain and Ireland it was a statistical entity used to keep track of births and deaths] lieutenancy area [Used for areas that had a ceremonial Lord, who was appointed by the monarch] in the Highlands of Scotland. The name dates from the Viking era when the area was ruled by the Jarl of Orkney [Also known as The Earl of Orkney, this was a title of nobility which was formalized in 1195] although Sutherland includes some of the northernmost land on the island of Great Britain, it was called Suðrland (“southern land”) from the standpoint of Orkney and Caithness.”

The county is generally rural and sparsely populated. Sutherland was particularly affected by the Highland Clearances of the 18th and 19th centuries, [A Clearance is when the rulers forced the landowners to change how they used their land, for example forcing it to become a farm or ranch] and the population has been in decline since the mid-19th century. 

Sutherland has a coast to the east onto the Moray Firth and a coast to the north-west onto the Atlantic Ocean. Much of the county is mountainous, and the western and northern coasts include many high sea cliffs. 

Sutherland County ceased to be used for local government purposes in 1975 and officially became part of the Highland Region

Back to the flag: The design is
Argent, (In heraldry it is the tincture showing silver or white), a cross in Scandinavian form (from the Nordic influence of it’s history) surmounted by a saltire sable (A saltire is also called Saint Andrew’s Cross) (Sable is the tincture showing as black) charged at the centre point with an eight-pointed star or (an or is a tincture of gold)

{Boyhowdy that is a lot of technical information that really blows air up a Vexillologist’s kilt}