A Flag for Helmdon Competition Rules

A Flag for Helmdon
A Community Competition
Flags are an ancient art form that developed especially to clearly display allegiance and identity. They have subsequently become the premier medium for expressing social pride, indeed it is difficult to imagine events as diverse as sports matches, military parades, or musical festivals without a wide range of flags being flown.
A flag for Helmdon will be a free, public symbol for all to use that will:

Raise recognition and awareness of the village
Express the pride in our local community
Celebrate the heritage and culture of our part of Northamptonshire
The Competition
Individuals and groups are invited to create proposals in line with the competition terms and conditions (below) and bearing in mind the Flag Institute design guidelines. The deadline for submissions is 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday 17 January 2018.
An assessment panel, including representatives from Helmdon Parish Council will then choose a final set of designs to be put to a public vote. The designs will all be drawn to the same standard.
The vote will be held online and via e-mail beginning in February 2018 and the result will be announced at the Annual Parish Meeting on 25 April 2018.
The winning design will be registered in the Flag Institute’s UK Flag Registry and will then be used to represent the village of Helmdon.
Useful Links
In addition to the information provided in this pack these links will be helpful:

The Helmdon Website: www.helmdon.com
The Flag Institute: www.flaginstitute.org
Flag Institute Guiding Principles of Flag Design:
www.flaginstitute.org/wp/product/guiding-principles-flag-design/
The UK Flag Registry: www.flaginstitute.org/wp/flag-registry
“Flying Flags in the United Kingdom”: www.flaginstitute.org/wp/british-flags/flying-
flags-in-the-united-kingdom/british-flag-protocol

A Brief History of Helmdon
Nestling in the heart of the South Northamptonshire countryside lies the village of Helmdon, with a history which dates back to Saxon times.
During the reign of Edward the Confessor, the village was known as Elmedene, which was
Saxon for Valley of Elms or Helma's Valley.
At the Domesday survey of 1086, the land belonged to the Earl of Moretain who was William the Conqueror's half-brother and the second largest land owner in England after the king himself.
The parish church of St Mary Magdalene dates back to the 13th century, with three arches added to the arcades in the 4th century and the clerestory added in the 15th. The church tower has six bells, the oldest of which dates from 1679, and fourteenth-century stained glass commemorating one of its stonemasons. Before the Reformation it was dedicated to St
Nicholas and it was at around this time it was renamed St Mary Magdalene.
Stone quarrying was a key part of Helmdon's economy for many hundreds of years and there is evidence the quarries existed as early as the turn of the thirteenth century.
There was also a thriving lace industry form the early 18th century, and in 1861 more than a quarter of the village women were lace makers.
The Reading Room is a Victorian building given to the village by Charles Fairbrother in 1887
and it was originally a place for men to meet as an alternative to the pub. It was not until the time of World War I that women began to use it. Today it is in use as the village hall, used by the parish council and where most of the village activities take place.
The Bell pub on Church Street is so called because it was the nearest alehouse in the village to the church and now is the only pub in the village today. There used to be four public houses in Helmdon but now only the Bell is in service. It was formerly known as the King
William so it is likely to have been first licensed during his reign (1830-37).
The long-abandoned Great Central railway, which once travelled through the village, opened in 1897. It was taken over later by the LNER and closed in 1966. Under Helmdon's most famous landmark, the Great
Central Viaduct, ran the little valley railway known as the
"nibble and clink". Livestock and coal were transported along this line to the Banbury and Northampton markets.
The village, situated on the
A43, has a population of around 1,000 residents and used to be a farming community, catering mainly for its own needs, but now
Home farm is the only fully working farm left inside the village.

Flag Design Guidelines
Below are some basic principles of flag design. Further information can be found in the Flag
Institute Guiding Principles of Flag Design, available as a free download at:
http://www.flaginstitute.org/wp/product/guiding-principles-flag-design/
Keep it Simple. The flag should be simple enough that a child can draw it from memory; else it will be too hard for people to remember and reproduce.
The flag's elements, colours, or patterns should relate to what it will represent. The flag should symbolise the area as a whole.
Try to use two to three basic colours. Limit the number of colours on the flag to three, which contrast well and come from the standard colour set: red, orange, yellow, green, light blue, dark blue, purple, black and white. Dark and light colours will contrast well against each other, in particular yellow or white will work well on any of the other colours and vice versa.
Avoid the use of writing of any kind or an organisation’s badge, seal or coat of arms. Writing and other intricate detail is difficult to see at a distance and will likely be unrecognisable when the flag is flying in the wind. It is better to use elements from an appropriate coat of arms as symbols on the flag.
Be distinctive. Avoid duplicating other flags. If designs look too similar then the flags could be misidentified.
Remember, the design must be distinctive when flying on a high pole in a strong wind, and when hanging in windless conditions too. Also remember that it will almost always have ripples caused by the wind.
Helpful Tips for Flag Design – Getting Started
When looking to design a flag for a town or area begin by looking at a number of sources for inspiration to find something that is important and unique. Such elements include:

Meaning of the area’s name
Legends and folklore
Traditional emblems and colours
Local people, achievements and industries
Evenley, Northamptonshire Flore, Northamptonshire

Competition Terms & Conditions
1. Eligibility
1.1. This is a community competition. It is open to individuals and groups.
1.2. For entrants under the age of 16 an adult will be required to approve the entry and agree to these Terms and Conditions. The adult may be a parent, guardian, or teacher. The adult must provide their own contact details, not the child’s.
2. Requirements
2.1. Entries may be constructed in any medium and submitted in A4 size landscape.
2.2. All entries must be the original work of the entrant(s) and must not infringe the rights of any other party.
2.3. By entering the competition, you release your design into the public domain in order for it to become a freely useable symbol for all.
2.4. You agree to allow your design to undergo professional manipulation to make it suitable for production.
2.5. The competition organisers accept no responsibility if entrants ignore these Terms and Conditions and entrants agree to indemnify the organisers from any breach of these Terms and Conditions.
3. Submission
3.1. Address for entry: [address removed].
3.2. Entries must be accompanied by a fully completed and signed entry form.
3.3. Further copies of the entry form are available from www.helmdon.com.
3.4. Please ensure your name and contact telephone number are clearly marked on the reverse of each entry. There is no limit to the number of entries per person.
3.5. Entries cannot be returned, and may be archived or destroyed. Please remember to retain a copy of your designs.
3.6. The personal data provided will only be used for the purposes of administering the competition and will be destroyed after its conclusion.
3.7. Unsuccessful entrants will not be contacted in respect of their entry and no feedback on any entry will be provided.
3.8. The decision of the assessment panel and the result of the public vote are final.
4. Disclaimer
4.1. The organisers reserve the right to disqualify any entry which breaches any of the
Terms and Conditions.

Flag for Helmdon Competition Entry Form
Instructions:
Write your name clearly on the back of your design
Complete this form and post both to the following address Flag for Helmdon
Competition, [address removed]
Name:
Organisation (if applicable):
Address (please provide contact details of a guardian or teacher if under 16):
Telephone: E-mail:
Rationale for your design:
Declaration: I hereby confirm [a] that I have read and agreed to the terms and conditions of the competition [b] that I am the originator of the design/images submitted and that, to my knowledge, I am not infringing any copyright [c] that release these designs/images into the public domain, as set out in the terms and conditions.
Signature:
Date: