Bid for official recognition of Fenland flag

The tiger, in the centre of the flag, represents the residents who rebelled against engineers that drained the Fens

An independent councillor hopes to gain official recognition of the Fenland flag so it can be added to the Flag Registry.

Dal Roy said he would bring a motion for its official acceptance to Fenland District Council in Cambridgeshire on Monday, in the hope it would "unite the people of Fenland".

The flag was created by Peter James Bowman and features the Fen Tiger - the nickname given to protesters who opposed marsh drainage schemes in the 16th and 17th Centuries.

Mr Roy said Fenland had a large diverse community and an official flag would create a joint identity to "bring people together as Fenlanders".

The motion for will be put to the council meeting at 16:00 GMT.

Mr Roy hoped it would be a success, telling the BBC the flag was about creating opportunity so that the people of Fenland would "flourish and grow".

'Uniting people'

He said: "It's about giving people from many diverse communities and cultures that identity to say, 'We are Fenland Tigers, we are a part of Fenland.'

"This is about uniting the people, and when you unite people you become powerful, and power could attract business, opportunities and investment to the area."

The Fenland council area of Cambridgeshire covers four market towns - Chatteris, March, Whittlesey and Wisbech - as well as a number of small villages.

The Fenland landscape - characterised by its flatness and man-made waterways - covers other parts of the county as well as Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.

A motion for the flag will be put to a Fenland District Council meeting by Dal Roy (pictured)

The idea for the flag began in 2012. A design was agreed on in 2016 and support for it built in 2018.

Designer Mr Bowman previously said he had been inspired by other areas creating their own flags, such as the Black Country and Exmoor.

The flag has a central vertical strip to represent "agricultural prosperity" and two strips of blue either side representing "the region's natural and man-made waterways".

The tiger represented the locals who rebelled against engineers draining the Fens to create land suitable for crops.