PROUD Yorkshiremen will fly their flag in York for the first time on Friday without having to pay a charge.

For years anybody who wanted to fly the Yorkshire flag – a white rose on a sky-blue background – had to apply for planning permission to do so.

But now the Flag Institute, which regulates the flags used by counties and other bodies, has finally agreed to register the Yorkshire flag as an official emblem, which means it can be flown without planning permission.

Tomorrow, a party of walkers who set out from Hull on Tuesday, will arrive in York with the flag held high to join in the city’s Yorkshire Day celebrations.

They are due to pass through Walmgate Bar at 10.30am.

Hilary Holt, of the Yorkshire Ridings Society, said: “This year Yorkshire Day will be an extra special event because we have never had this procession carrying the Yorkshire flag before.”

Members of the society will also be reading out the official Yorkshire Declaration Of Integrity at four different locations in York throughout the day.

Hilary said: “The way we do it is by walking around the bar walls.

“At 11.33am, it will be read at Micklegate Bar in the West Riding, then outside Bootham Bar in the North Riding, outside Walmgate Bar in the East Riding, and, finally, in St Sampson’s Square in York at 1pm.

“The significance of 11.33am is that it will be 1,133 years since the first recorded mention of Yorkshire’s three Ridings in the Anglo Saxon Chronicle.”

In St Sampson’s Square, a large Yorkshire rose will be painted in white on the flagstones.

The square will also play host to a traditional Yorkshire market, with produce and products from all over the county, including pies, pickles and flat caps.

Street entertainers will be giving performances and Yorkshire author Sarah Barrett will be on hand to sign copies of her new book about the Haworth-based Bronte Parsonage.

York city centre manager Paul Barrett said: “Yorkshire Day is an opportunity to celebrate all that is great and good about Yorkshire.

“I hope everyone will come along to St Sampson’s Square to join in this special event.”


The Yorkshire Declaration Of Integrity

I, (your name), being a resident of the [West/North/East] Riding of Yorkshire [or City of York] declare:

* that Yorkshire is three Ridings and the City of York, with these boundaries of 1,133 years standing;

* that the address of all places in these Ridings is Yorkshire;

* that all persons born therein or resident therein and loyal to the Ridings are Yorkshiremen and women;

* that any person or corporate body which deliberately ignores or denies the aforementioned shall forfeit all claim to Yorkshire status.