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.)

“Lincolnshire abbreviated Lincs, is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire (riding is another name for a county) across the Humber estuary to the north, the North Sea to the east, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshireand Rutland to the south,and Leicestershire, Nottinghamshireand South Yorkshire to the west.”

The county is predominately rural with an area of 2,687 square miles and a population of just over 1 million. It is the second largest county in England and has a varied geography. It has had a comparatively quiet history, due to being a rural county and little industry. It has faced little threat of invasion.

In 2005 the county decided it needed a new flag. A radio station in Lincolnshire conducted a two year contest and held a public vote. The contest attracted thousands of votes

The official flag (the winner) features a Red Cross, edged in yellow and bearing a yellow Fleur-de-lys on a background of green and blue quarters.

The red cross is the Saint George’s Cross representing England. Yellow represents the crops grown in the county, as well as the nickname “Yellowbellies” given to people born and bred in Lincolnshire. Blue represents both the sea of the East coast and the wide skies of Lincolnshire, and green symbolises the rich lushness of fenland fields. The fleur de lys is a recognised symbol of the City of Lincoln.

[The flour-de-lys is a common element of flag design. It is a stylized shape of a lily. You find it on many flags from France, Spain, even in Canada. The theory is that it comes from the flowers that grew around the river Lys in Flanders.]