The Flag of England; A brief history

Posting this in the week following St George's Day I think it might be a good idea to look at the history of the flag of England. Now first off I do not mean the Union Jack as that is not the flag of England but of the United Kingdom, of which England is only a part.
The historic and defacto Flag of England is the St George's Cross. A red latin cross of a white field. Before we look at this flag it might be a good idea to quickly look at it's namesake.
There is much said and resaid about St George as well as many claims regarding his origins. What is probably safe to say is that he was not English he was probably of Greek origin. What we do know is that he was an officer in the Roman army possibly even in the Emperor's Guard and that he was executed by the Emperor Diocletian for his Christian faith on 23rd April 303AD, and this day is celebrated as St George's Day. Myth credits St George with many great deeds including healing the sick and slaying a dragon. Due to his military background St George is seen as the Warrior Saint and thus particularly patronised by soldiers as well as the scouting movement and sufferers of certain skin diseases.
It is important to note that the St George cross was not always the banner of England, there were many flags often associated with a variety of saints that were used by English kings, English ships and English armies since the kingdom was formed in the 10th Century . Dragon standards were used by the Anglo-Saxons and continued to be used post Norman conquest and throughout the middle ages.

St George depicted on the Great War memorial
windows in the Guildhall, Londonderry, N.Ireland

St George’s patronage of England dates to the time of the Crusades. The word crusade literally meaning to take up the cross. This may be because crusaders distinguished themselves by wearing crosses over their armour and on their shields. As a warrior saint, George naturally appealed to the soldiers who believed they were fighting to defend Christendom. There are reports of various miraculous appearances and manifestations of the saint during the crusades, most notably at the battle of Antioch in 1098. In most of these appearances he was said to have been clad in armour emblazoned with the cross. This is why despite being a Roman soldier St George is often depicted as a Crusader in armour appropriate to that era. This could also be where the red cross is attributed to him. It is notable that St George in all likelihood did not use a red cross on white field either on a shield or in a flag in his lifetime, having lived before the advent of heraldry, but that these symbols were attributed to him by later generations. Most likely by the Crusaders for the above mentioned reasons and like the image of St George himself in medieval armour they have stuck to the present day. 
Of the English Crusades the one organised by Henry II and Philip II of France is interesting as in this the English and French distinguished themselves by the colour of their crosses. However it was the French who wore a red cross on white whereas the English wore a white cross on red. Popular belief is that English use of St George's Cross originates from when Richard I the Lionheart, adopted the flag of the Italian state of Genoa and Saint George as his patron saint in 1191 during the Third Crusade. 13^th Century English ships in the Mediterranean may have also flew the Genoa flag as a deterrent to pirates (Genoa was a powerful naval power), for this England payed a fee to Genoa. In fact this resurfaced in 2018 when Mayor of Genoa Marco Bucci was reported stating that the last payment was in 1746, and Her Majesty’s Government owed Genoa over 250 years back payments! He further said that he was considering writing to HM the Queen and suggested that payment could be in the form of a large charity donation or the restoration of historic buildings. Buckingham Palace responded by saying it would consider a royal visit to Genoa, and indeed representatives of the UK's Flag Institute were present in Genoa this St George's Day to celebrate Genoa and England's shared use of the flag. 

Badge of the Order of the Garter 

When exactly England adopted St George and his cross is not exactly known, however it seems English soldiers have used the red cross on white as an identifying symbol since at least Edward I; for accounts from 1277 describe cloth for pennons and braces “of the arms of Saint George” for the King’s soldiers.
As already mentioned there were other symbols associated with other Saints used before St George and these didn't disappear but continued to be used alongside St George's Cross. . St George’s dominant position as patron saint may stem from Edward III who founded the Chapel of St George in Windsor, and the founding of the Most Noble Order of the Garter on St Georges’ Day in 1348. 
There are decrees describe how English soldiers should dress throughout the Middle Ages, which often include the wearing of St George's Cross on their Jackets. 

In regard to use on flags in 1370 the Clerk of the armour and artillery of the King’s ships acknowledged receipt of a number of flags which did include “Banners of Saint George” amongst others.

A roll of ship’s flags from the reign of Henry VI describes flags of various saints including St George, St Edward and St Katherine. This type of practice continued until the reformation, put saintly banners out of favour. 

St George was well truly and unquestionably the patron of England by the time of the reformation, as all saintly banners except that of St George disappeared.

Detail from the Anthony Roll depicting
English Warships flying the St George Cross. Public Domain

Henry VIII commissioned many ships during his reign. Although in the early years of his reign ships displayed all sorts of emblems on flags including portcullises, roses, dragons and even greyhounds, later on it appears that the St George’s Cross is the dominant flag. The Anthony Roll records the ships of Henry’s fleet and shows them depicted in great detail. From the rolls we see a more uniform approach to the flags of the fleet. Although royal banners, green and white striped flags (Tudor colours), and flags bearing Henry’s cypher are used, the cross of St George is clearly the ‘national’ flag. The Cross of St George flies prominently from the masts.

During the reign of Elizabeth I we see the appearance of ensigns for the first time. A portrait of the Queen painted to commemorate the victory over the Spanish Armada in 1588, shows not only the Spanish ships foundering off the stormy coast of the British Isles, but the triumphant English ships identified by the flag of the St George’s Cross.

It is clear that by the 16^th Century the Cross of St George had become the lead flag for identifying English ships both merchant and naval. Through this use at sea it was therefore well established as the national flag by 1606 when the Union Flag was first introduced. This flag was introduced by James I who was also King of Scotland to demonstrate his reign over both kingdoms. It combined the Cross of St George representing England with the Cross of St Andrew representing Scotland. 

However this new flag did not replace the Cross of St George for James ordered that British ships fly it alongside their pre existing flags (Cross of St George for the English and St Andrew's Cross from the Scottish). The Union Jack would later be restricted an an ornament for the King's ships (which is still the case today) leaving the St George Cross free reign on land and sea. 

St George's Cross was a prominent symbol in the flags of both sides of the English Civil Wars although it was not featured in all flags. 

 The Navy was at this time colour coded into red, white and blue fleets, with each fleet flying flags corresponding with that colour. Each ship would fly the appropriate coloured ensign with St George's Cross in the Canton, and Admirals flew a flag of the said colour from their flagship. In 1702 the white flags of the Royal Navy emblazoned with the red cross for easier identification. Merchant ships also fell into this scheme being permitted to use the red ensign.In 1702 the white flags of the Royal Navy emblazoned with the red cross for easier identification. This has ramifications to this day as this meant at sea the Cross of St George was the distinct flag of an Admiral and this is still the case today, meaning private craft that display the flag are technically breaking the law. This is also why the modern British naval ensign features a large St George Cross, the Royal Navy dropping the red and blue ensigns and flags in 1864.

Flag of England flying from Leeds Town Hall
Mtaylor848  Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

It continued to be used in the Company flags of English regiments and in the canton of English maritime ensigns until the Treaty of Union in 1707 when England & Scotland united to form Great Britain. After this the Union Jack replaced the St George Cross in these flags. Although the symbol was still in use for most of the three centuries of Union the St George Cross was a minor flag in the shadow of the Union Jack. However that is not the case today with the flag in resurgence possibly being more popular with private English citizens than the Union Flag and even flying form many public buildings of local authorities either alongside the Union Jack or in place of it on non designated days. 

This is probably at least in part mirroring the use of Scottish and Welsh flags in those parts of the United Kingdom which have regained popularity in the late 20th Century particularly through sport where the British Home Nations compete separately, although by the 21st Century the popularity of these flags have spread beyond sport to the general public sport fan and non sport fan alike.

By and large the English flag is not seen as a political emblem and is used by members of the public in England for many reasons chief of which is an expression of national identity even if it is not a unique symbol of England.

UK police badge redesigns Part 1

As far as British police badges go, most are pretty good, but I think some are rather generic. Most feature an eight pointed star generally (but not always) topped with a crown. In the centre of the star is a circular disk, with the name of the police force around it. Most have some sort of local or specific insignia in the centre but lots just have the Royal EIIR cypher. Personally I don't think the cypher is needed as the monarch and state is already represented by the crown. Here are just a few redesigns where I have replaced the cypher with something to represent the local area or region, starting with the largest police force in Britain,London's Metropolitan Police Service.

It uses the Westminster portcullis which appears on the Met's coat of arms.
For the Bedfordshire police I used the Bedfordshire coat of arms:

The Cumbria police badge features the white Grass of Parnassus flower found on both the flag of Cumberland (often mistaken for Cumbria) and the Cumbria flag.

Dorset Police badge design features a Dorset flag shield:

Likewise the Gloucestershire police badge features a county flag shield:

Greater Manchester Police also use the local coat of arms:

The Gwent police badge is slightly different, it is based on the Gwent banner, but with some slight differences mainly the dragon to distinguish it as this police force's jurisdiction expands beyond Monmouthshire. I also kept the Welsh text on the badge:

the Humberside police badge is also based on a coat of arms but differs slightly:

The Merseyside police badge redesign features three mural coronets from the Merseyside flag:

The redesign for the Nottinghamshire police badge featured the shield from the centre of the Nottinghamshire flag:

However I realize that the figure represents Robin Hood and felt it might be a bit ironic for the badge of law enforcement to feature an outlaw! So I also offer an alternative featuring the cross from the flag:

Other badge redesigns are that of the Ministry of Defence Police (not to be confused with the Royal Military Police which is a corps of the army)  and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary whose job is to police the police.
The MoD police badge redesign simply features the tri-service emblems of the swords (army), anchor (navy), and eagle (air force):

HM Inspectorate of Constabulary's badge redesign features a shield bearing scales of justice, the royal cypher and an olive wreath. However I consent that in this case it might be appropriate to just use the royal cypher as is done in the present badge. 

But perhaps the law enforcement organisation in need most of a badge redesign is the National Crime Agency (NCA) the British equivalent of the FBI. Although their current logo might work well as a logo, it doesn't really work as a badge, so this is my proposal:

It features the eight pointed star common to nearly all UK police forces, the crown and the royal arms to demonstrate its national jurisdiction. 

Some other NI flag designs

Unlike other posts none of these flags are my designs. I have been too busy recently with work to even think about that. But in the recent weeks and days some very interesting designs have appeared on social network site pages.

First is a very interesting if not controversial design by Rev Ivan Dinsmore:

This combines both Unionist and Republican symbolism. It takes the form of a UK blue ensign with the 'big dipper' star formation in the shape of an old fashion plough in the fly. As the Union Flag is in the canton it represents British Sovereignty and so would (in theory) please Unionists. The Stary Plough is a leading Republican symbol that often appears on both flags and murals. Although there is well meaning behind it  I doubt this would work as Nationalists won't accept anything with a union flag in it, and the stary plough has links to Republican terrorist groups which will throw Unionists. Personally I like it, but I wouldn't like it as my flag as I think it is more like the flag of an overseas territory rather than one of the UK home nations.  

The fallowing designs are from Chris Connolly, firstly:

As is often seen on these NI flag designs the red hand is central. This design features a combination of the Cross of De Burgh and Cross of St George combining the unofficial de facto NI flag, the Ulster Banner and Provincial Ulster Flag. What I really like is the use of symbols representing the two main traditions  The lower fourth quarter has a harp on green field, a nationalist symbol. Was used the Irish Catholic Confederation by Nationalists as an unofficial de facto flag for Ireland in the 19th century. The top second quarter has a banner of the coat of arms used by the House of Orange, around the time King William III (Prince of Orange) was joint monarch of the three Kingdoms. It is interesting that in other designs where the connection to the House of Orange is used to represent Ulster and Irish protestants the colour is used (such as the Irish Republic's tricolour) but this is the first version I have seen using the coat of arms. I don't even think the Orange Order uses the coat of arms. A version on St Patrick's Saltire with the arms facing each other is below:

I like this flag, the symbolism is good and the idea of the Orange coat of arms is very original.

Chris Connolly then made two further versions of this theme replacing the Orange coat of arms with the Royal Arms of Scotland reflecting the Scots ancestry and elements of that culture in Unionist identity as well you could argue loyalty to the crown:

Another version using the late-medieval Gaelic Harp as used on the coat of arms of the Republic of Ireland:

I like the latter better than the former as it can represent NI with its two closest Neighbours on each side as well as loyalties. The colour scheme of yellow and blue I think works better than yellow and green. 

Another version with both yellow that could reflect the Ulster Flag colours. I am not sure if I like this one.

 I think I pre-fare the version with the Orange arms rather than the Scottish.

Peter Collier has designed some very good ones, Which I will show you, firstly:

The red hand in the hoist, with a red and yellow fly not sure I like the colour scheme, but the white hoist to me looks like half a hexagon which for some reason I like. Next up is a Union Jack type design:

Now it is too cluttered to work but I like the central design of four hexagons resembling the Giant's Causeway, with red hand and flax flower in the centre and a harp and crown to the sides, again resembling the two traditions, cross of De Burke is also in there. the blue saltire is also very unusual.

 Now for my favourite design of the lot also designed by the designer of the two above flags:

Six Flax flowers forming a hexagon representing the six counties. The blue and gold bands are really just to make the design interesting with the colours from the flax plants, with no symbolic significance. Although you could say the blue is St Patrick's blue and the gold is from the Ulster Flag. 

Another version of the above design is below:

I am not sure but I think I like the first of the two better. 

All Comments welcome.

None of these designs belong to this site or publisher but to their respective designers who are already mentioned in the above text. 

Northern Ireland Flag and Coat of Arms.

Firstly I would like to apologise to readers who have no interest in the Northern Ireland flags issues, as this is another post with more ideas. I strongly believe that my home country should have an officially recognised flag. I don't know what news has gone out to the outside world but in Ulster its been a rather extreme couple of weeks regarding displaying the national (UK) flag on Belfast City Hall and what is now spreading to parliament buildings too. The protests, public disorder and community and political tensions that have fallowed is one reason why I have been thinking up new emblems specifically for Northern Ireland, note I am not attempting to replace any national emblems either British or Irish but filling the gap for regional Northern Irish emblems.
Another reason is due to the result of the last UK census regarding Northern Ireland. Two-fifths (40%) of those who responded said they had a British only national identity, (personally I don't think there is such thing as to me British is a collection of English, Scottish, Welsh and N.Irish but that is irrelevant)a quarter (25%) had Irish only and just over a fifth (21%) had a Northern Irish only national identity.
Traditionally there were people who seen themselves as primarily British and Primary Irish, with Northern Irish being seen as a regional identity. But this enormousness rise of people regarding themselves as Northern Irish only also highlights the need for an officially recognised emblem.

My first thought was for a coat of arms. I broke a little from my usual designs as I didn't use my usual template and thus added some extra things:

It is not a complete break with tradition as it still has the lion and elk supporters and flag staffs (although with new flags) from the old coat of arms. I thought it would be interesting if the supporters represented the two communities and traditions helping each other supporting the country. The lion represents the British, Unionist tradition, with St Andrew's Cross being used to symbolise this side of the community. I picked St Andrew's Cross to symbolise the Scottish Ancestry  and the Scottish aspects of the Unionist culture and identity. It is also the most used flag by unionism after the Union Flag and Old NI flag. It also shouldn't offend Nationalists as many nationalists also have close family and cultural links with Scotland.  

The Elk represents the Irish, Nationalist tradition, with the green harp flag being used. This is seen as the secondary symbol of Irish Nationalism (Irish Tricolour being the primary one)  It was also used as an unofficial national flag for Ireland by Nationalists from 1798 to 1916. It also shouldn't offend unionists as green harp flags have been common among Irish regiments of the British Army.

The Helmet is a new addition and something I think was missed on past coats of arms. the Crest is the six flowers flax plant logo of the NI Assembly. The flax plant is quickly becoming the flower of Northern Ireland and is also present on coins and the badge of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. Although the shamrock is still present on the Royal coat of Arms and floral cyphers of the UK.
The chain is based on the Order of Saint Patrick and is displayed on the coat of arms in the same way the order of the thistle is used on the coat of arms of Scotland. This chain features flax flowers,  harps and St Patrick's Cross.
The base is the usual shamrocks and Giant's Causeway Stones.
the motto is "Culture makes Progress" hinting at peace and acceptance of each others cultures and traditions. It is in Irish Gaelic at the base and (Ulster) Scots at the top (normal in Scottish coats of arms) which are both recognised languages in NI and each associated with its relevant identity.
I also thought it would be nice to display the county coat of arms too. On the left from top to bottom are Counties: Fermangh, Antrim and Tyrone. On the other side is County Londonderry, Armagh and Down. The shield I will come to later. Of course the county arms don't need to be displayed all the time:

The shield I must admit is not my idea but that of Paul James from the Flags Forum who decided to use the Cross of De Burgh as seen on the Province flag on the NI flag, the hexagon was my suggestion as an alternative to the six pointed star as it could also represent the Giant's Causeway as well as the six counties. I have however altered it slightly so it is pointing to the top and bottom. A flag form of the coat of arms would be this:

By Paul James altered slightly by Samuel McKittrick

I have also designed a 'Royal coat of Arms' for northern Ireland. Of course not everyone would support the monarchy but the fact that a lot if people have described themselves as 'Northern Irish' suggests they are content if not happy with the constitutional status. This coat of arms is designed to be used with Lord Lieutenants and other representatives of the Queen:

It retains most of the features of the Government/Civil coat of arms. The crest is replaced with a crown which is also on top of St Patrick's cross. The shield is a harp on Blue Field taken from the Royal Coat of arms, the banner of which is also being supported by the lion. The Elk holds the Royal Banner of Scotland because the Ulster-Scots population who would mostly support the monarchy see it as another link with Scotland. However I am not completely sure if I should use it or not. A banner of the civil coat of arms (the flag above) might be more appropriate, The motto at the Base is an Irish and Scots translation of the motto on the Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom "Dieu et mon droit" (God and my right). The motto at the top is Latin for 'Who Shall Separate Us?' which appears on the Order of Saint Patrick, and is the motto of the Irish Guards regiment in the army, it also appeared on version of the last NI coat of Arms. 

This is more for use of the representatives and institutions of the monarchy in Northern Ireland rather than the monarch herself. I would not be to keen on a separate version of the Royal Coat of Arms like what Scotland has. However if there is demand for such I propose the above design but with the Royal Arms of the three traditional British Kingdoms in the shield:

Of Course the Irish representation takes the dominant first and fourth quarters. As I stated above I was thinking of using a banner of the civil arms instead of the Royal Banner of Scotland. Well in this version I have no doubt that the NI banner should be used as The Royal Arms of Scotland is on the third quarter. 

Paul James idea is that none of the other three UK nations have a banner of their coat of arms as a flag and that the red hand replace the harp in the UK coat of arms and Royal Standard:

 By Paul James (note Wales is also represented in the fourth quarter) 

I like his proposal. However I disagree with using the red hand as a replacement to the harp in the Royal coat arms as the harp is a symbol of Irish Kingship. But in the UK Government version of the coat of arms would perhaps be more appropriate.

I also see his point that the flag perhaps should not be based on the coat of arms for two reasons. Firstly this is not the case of the other UK nations and secondly this is what happened to the last flag, and when the local government was abolished in 1973 it ceased to have any standing. In order to survive political changes the flag should be separate from the government so an alternative I recently thought of is below:

This flag is based on the NI Football colours (Green, White and Blue) The celtic cross design is also inspired by NI Football. The red hand is changed from the traditional upright hand to a child's hand representing the future. The Coat of arms remains the same as proposed above, but it is also a though a banner of it could still be used by the government as I quite like it. I have posted the Celtic cross design on  the new NI flag Facebook and so far about two thirds of feedback has been relatively positive.

All Comments Welcome

For other NI Flag suggestions see links below:

Northern Ireland Flag?

Northern Ireland

Green Ensign version 

Other Related posts

Belfast City Hall Flag Issue

Ulster(Republic of Ireland)

City of Londonderry Flag

Northern Ireland Flags Guide

All designs by Samuel McKittrick unless stated otherwise

Northern Ireland

I have a few designs for a new Northern Ireland Flag. To see them and the NI flag issue click here. This is my latest idea. It really came out of the bloom. After the Northern Ireland International Football team's fantastic 1-1 draw with Portugal a couple of weeks ago, me and my mates decided to go over to Belfast to cheer our boys against Azerbaijan next month. Someone said to me if I would design a flag to take with us. Centre to this design was the badge of the Northern Ireland Team:

 

As you can see it is a celtic cross based design. Celtic cross are an ancient and historic symbol they are common throughout Ireland and to a lesser extent Scotland. In Northern Ireland they are often a Nationalist symbol however as with the example above it can sometimes creep into unionist symbols (the NI team is mostly supported by unionists) and other symbols. For example the £1 coin minted in 2001 has a celtic cross and flax to symbolise NI: 

An attempt at a neutral NI flag alternative design by the Flag Institute from 1998, not the best design but it does try to use the celtic cross:

Looking at my football supporter flag I thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to use the design as for new official NI flag. The coat of arms which I thought up after the flag is a break from traditional British and European heraldry as its not the usual shield,helm and crest design:

I have tried to include all the appropriate symbols of Northern Ireland in these arms. Central to the design is the celtic cross, with a red hand of Ulster in a hexagon. The hexagon can symbolise both the six NI counties and the Giant's Causeway World Heritage Site. There are shamrocks a traditional symbol of Ireland on the tips of the cross, which again is mostly nationalist but often creeps into Unionism, for example the Irish Guards and Royal Irish Regiments of the British Army often wear shamrocks. the text around the circle is Northern Ireland Assembly in the cultural languages of the two communities. Although English is the official and spoken first language many in both Protestant Unionist and Catholic Nationalist communities also speak their own historical language or dialect. On the top is the Ulster dialect of Scots, 'Ullans' also known as Ulster-Scots, the dialect spoken by many Protestants many of Scots decent. The bottom is Irish Gaelic, official first language of the Irish Republic and spoke by some Catholics many of Gaelic descent. These two languages are included to identify with the background and culture of the two main communities in NI. The crest is the current flax flower logo of the NI Government with a maid of Erin harp in the centre. I must admit that the crest wasn't my idea but I adopted it from another alternative NI coat of arms as I think it works excellently. The bottom has Saint Patrick's Saltire. St Patrick is the patron saint of Northern Ireland and this design also represents NI on the Union Flag and is often seen as neutral so it makes sense to include it. The fact that it is in the form of a medal is only decorative and is not a copy of any medal or order that might compromise its neutrality that I am aware of (although I did get the idea from looking at the regalia of the now extinct Illustrious Order of St Patrick). Around the celtic cross is a laurel wreath representing the pace progress and the hope for continued peace. On the wreath are six flax flowers representing the six counties which form Northern Ireland. The motto Pax atque Procursu is Latin for Peace and Progress. 

The flag is below:

It is a blue, green, blue tricolour with white lineage and a simplified version of the coat of arms. In the centre. The colours I specifically chose as they are traditional Irish colours and used in this way I think both communities can identify with them.

The great thing I like about this design is that it can so easily be included in many badges of government and emergency services. For example for a department of regional government can use the centre celtic cross design, keeping it Ullans and Gaelic text stating NI Assembly. But have the department name around it in the three languages. For example here is how the badge of the Department of Flags and Emblems(there is no such department but I think there should be ;) this is only an example) would look:

This type of design could be used through out the Belfast Government, perhaps changing the colour scheme for individual departments. It is a lot more interesting than the current standard department badge: 

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) flag is a rifle green (or bottle green as the PSNI calls it obviously not trying to sound to military) field reflecting their uniform with the police badge on it. This is the only flag used at police stations in NI:

This proposed NI flag can easily be altered slightly for important services like the police. Below is my design for a PSNI flag:

The shade of green used on the national flag has been altered to 'bottle green' for the police flag. Unlike the other designs I am about to show I have not altered or changed the police badge. The reasons for this being, it was painstakingly designed to be acceptable both communities and I think it does it rather well.

The next badge is that of the Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service(NIFRS). Although I am not aware of any calls to change the badge of the NIFRS it is a little out dated in that it has the six pointed star and red hand from the old NI coat of arms. 

With the new NI flag I have proposed this is not suitable, although the changes I did make was only to replace the hand and star with the celtic cross design: 

I also changed the green in the design to a much darker shade. The Ullans and Gaelic text on the design loosely translates to Fire & Rescue. The flag is very much like the PSNI flag:

Again it incorporates the NI flag design but with the badge in the middle and a darker shade of green from the badge. This is actually a darker shade than I used in the police flag, but one could be forgiving for thinking at first glance they are the same shade. So to make it more distinguishable I included four red stripes, which represent the four NIFRS 'Command Areas' (Northern, Southern, Western and Eastern) 

Next up is the Ambulance Service. Which doesn't really need a change as it is neutral.

But although it is obviously a medical themed badge it is the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service and I don't think the badge reflects the Northern Ireland at all. So I 'improved' it by merging it with the celtic cross design. Which was actually an accident but thought it looked OK and decided to keep it. 

The flag is yes based on the NI flag proposed on this blog but with the ambulance badge on it and a different shade of green (can you see a pattern? lol) 

The pale shade of green comes directly from the NI Ambulance Service badge.

The next is the Prison Service. The prisons in Northern Ireland are ultimately the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Justice Minister as they have been devolved to the regional NI government. However they use the title of 'Her Majesty's Prison.' For example Magilligan Prison is called HM Prison Magilligan and the badge on the Prison warden uniform reads HMP.

The fact of the matter is most prisons in the United Kingdom are now the responsibility of regional and local government and hence no longer use this badge, which was used when all UK prison when they were all the responsibility of central government in London. Although granted a lot of prisons are still called HM (Name) Prison. There were proposals for the NI Prison service to be formally called 'NI Prison Service' and have its own badge although these were quickly shelved after the first minister threatened to resign over it as unionists and prison staff wanted to keep the title HMP. Although the fact is very few prisons on the UK mainland never mind NI use this badge so I do think it is unavoidable that the badge if not the name will change some time in the future. So here is my take on a badge:

I kept the eight pointed star design although so not to confuse it with the police I used the one the NIFRS use. The green has been replaced with a light blue. The words in Ullans and Gaelic translate to Prison Service. Of course for unionists the formal name that appears on documents and the like could be HM Northern Ireland Prison Service, but for simplicity on the badge I just used Northern Ireland Prison Service. The flag is:

This flag is slightly different as unlike the other ones the shade of green has not changed. What has changed is the shade of blue to match the badge. 

I also believe that the coast guard will also be devolved in the future, probably to try and cut costs if for nothing else. Currently the coast guard in NI is the UK HM Coastguard and is the ultimate responsibility of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency in London. Most sea rescues are actually carried out by the volunteer lifeboat crews of the RNLI, however these are always coordinated by the local coast guard station. There are some coast guard boats in NI waters and there are many shore teams for rescues around the many cliffs and dangerous spots of our shore, The coast guard call centres take many emergency calls and pass it to the control centre who dispatch  a coast guard team, lifeboat or call for a helicopter form the Irish Coast Guard or Royal Navy depending on the nature of the operation (there are no HM Coastguard helicopters in NI.) 

 So here is my attempt for an Northern Ireland Coast Guard badge if/when the HM Coastguard is devolved:

This is based on maritime heraldry with a rope circle and nautical crown. However so it is not confused with a Royal Navy ships badge the nautical crown is a the base, where the NI crest of the flax flowers and harp is at the top. As you guessed the text in Ullans and Gaelic translates to Coast Guard. 

The flag is a different topic to the others as unlike the others it would be used at sea and maritime law is very strict on flags. So like it or not it would probably have to be a British Blue ensign (as it would be a government vessel) deface with the badge. Although I would use the celtic cross design with the letters 'CG' rather than the full coat of arms.

However shore establishments probably use a house flag rather than the ensign used by vessels. The house flag would probably be more common as stated before the CG mostly dispatch and coordinate the RNLI and therefore don't have too many boasts. The house flag is different form the other flags as it is not based on the proposed NI flag:

It is a St Patrick's Saltire with the letters 'CG' at the hoist and fly. An anchor at the bottom and the NI Crest at the top. The reason I used the crest rather than the celtic cross design in the ensign is because the crest stands out more against the white field. 

All the proposals are my designs. Your thoughts and comments are welcome