The Middlesex flag is the coat of arms of the defunct Middlesex County council on a white background. An alternative Middlesex flag is a banner of the arms of the defunct Middlesex County council.
The county of Middlesex dates from early Saxon times and its name refers to its origin as the territory of the "Middle Saxons". This region fell within the rule of the Kingdom of the East Saxons or Essex. Heralds of the time ascribed coats of arms to Kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. The arms assigned to the Kingdom of the Middle and East Saxons depicted an arrangement of three short notched swords known as seaxes. The seaxe was a weapon favoured by Anglo-Saxon warriors, and the term "Saxon" is probably derived from the word.
In 1910, Middlesex County Council applied to the College of Arms for a particular design to represent Middlesex alone and distinguish it from Essex. This was achieved with the addition of a gold Saxon crown derived from the portrait of King Athelstan on a silver penny, resulting in the The Middlesex Coat of Arms.
The Middlesex flag can be seen flying from a flagpole in Twickenham on the 16th day of May each year, which is Middlesex Day.
Middlesex’s flag was included on the registry from its inception. The county’s name is likely to be familiar to most people; it is a county cricket team so is heard often in a sporting context and is found frequently in the titles and descriptions of organisations and buildings. Commercial enterprises often include the name in their designations and additionally the name is in official use as a postal district. Many people however may not realise that Middlesex, as a county, continues to exist. Whilst the Middlesex County Council was abolished in 1965 the county that has existed since Anglo-Saxon times has never been extinguished and whilst many parts of it now lie under an urban sprawl and are administered by a range of different bodies, Middlesex is still with us. In the twenty-first century motorists heading north over Kew Bridge are greeted with a sign reminding them that they are entering the county of Middlesex.
In the early Anglo-Saxon era the territory of Middlesex originally formed part of the kingdom of the East Saxons. The earliest surviving use of the name Middlesex is in a charter dated 704 granting the estate of Twickenham to Bishop Waldhere, where it appears as Middleseaxan. The name means territory of the Middle Saxons but it is unresolved whether the people were so named from the earliest days or whether this designation arose only after this portion of the kingdom of Essex was absorbed by the Mercians and the inhabitants ceased to be “East Saxons”! The ancient boundaries of the county were the rivers Colne to the east, Lea to the west, Thames to the south, and a ridge of hills to the north, the “Grimsdyke”.
Sharing an origin with Essex, the same emblem bearing three gold hilted, white seaxes on a red background that represented Essex was also used in Middlesex, by such bodies as militia units and county authorities. The history of the emblem as recounted in the account of the flag of Essex also applies to Middlesex. This early use of the three seaxes emblem is reflected in the badges of the current Middlesex Rugby and Cricket clubs.
Having been formed in 1889, Middlesex County Council applied for distinctive arms of its own in 1910 under the direction of prominent local historian, council chairman and Deputy Lord Lieutenant, Montagu Sharp.
The advice of an author on military badges, Colonel Otley Parry, a Justice of the Peace for the county, was sought, for a distinctive charge that would “difference” the arms to be used by Middlesex County Council from those used by their Essex counterparts. The choice was a gold “Saxon Crown”, as appears on a silver penny from the time of King Athelstan, the earliest form of crown associated with the English monarchy. This was added over the three seaxes.
The grant of arms was made by letters patent, dated 7 November 1910. The original emblem of the three seaxes was formally granted as a coat of arms to Essex Council in 1932.
The depiction of the blades themselves seems to have evolved over the years. The notches for example are a fanciful artistic elaboration – gouging chunks out of a weapon like this would weaken its solidity and usefulness and existing seaxes, such as this one displayed in the London museum (missing the original wooden handle) are also not curved like scimitars. These characteristics seem to be the products of nineteenth century heraldic fashion!
At its website the County Of Middlesex Trust/Middlesex Federation which campaigns to affirm the continuing existence of the county, asserts that “the arms of the County of Middlesex are three seaxes pointing upwards” and that “Before the County Council was created, arms were unofficial: the official arms of the County Council reversed the seaxes and added the Saxon crown.” suggesting that in earlier centuries, when depicted, the seaxes would have been inverted. Accordingly the logo of the Trust features a red shield bearing three upturned seaxes against a map of the county.
From 1910 to 1965 the arms of the crown and seaxes remained the property of the Middlesex County Council as the “armigers” or arms holders. That body was abolished in 1965 and as there was no longer any arms holder, upon the creation of its registry, the Flag Institute took the view that the arms and an armorial banner formed from them, had effectively been released to the public. The banner was therefore included on the registry as the county flag of Middlesex and was designated as a traditional design on the basis that the essential pattern of three seaxes had been used there for centuries.
Seaxes are common in the heraldry of the county’s towns and boroughs and the Saxon crown has also become a common charge in English civic arms.