The Flag of Sussex was registered on Friday 20th May 2011 as a result of a campaign started in August 2010, by Sussex resident Brady Ells, with support from his dad David. The flag represents the whole of Sussex and is based on the traditional emblem of Sussex, six Gold martlets on a Blue field.
The first known recording of this emblem being used to represent the county was in 1611 when cartographer John Speed deployed it to represent the of the Kingdom of the South Saxons (Sussex). However it seems that Speed was repeating an earlier association between the emblem and the county, rather than being the inventor of the association. It is now firmly regarded that the county emblem originated and derived from the coat of arms of the 14th century ‘Knight of the Shire’, Sir John de Radynden.
Today the emblem used by many Sussex organisations, such as Sussex County Cricket Club, Sussex County Football Association and also features on the village sign of Ringmer in Sussex. The Flag Institute manages and maintains the national flag registry of the United Kingdom, and therefore this is now the definitive County Flag of Sussex.
Please look around our website to see the full history of the martlets and county flag of Sussex.
The Sussex County Flag 