TO the sound of Elgar’s Land of Hope and Glory, sung with commendable gusto through chattering teeth by Worcester Male Voice Choir, the new flag of Worcestershire was raised over the county from the top of the cathedral.

A brisk and chilling south-easterly wind threatened a last minute hitch when it wrapped the huge banner around a guy rope, but step forward hero of the hour, cathedral head verger James Prior, who, with blue hands and an urge to be somewhere warm, gave a mighty tug and up the pole the flag went.

There was a chorus of ‘three cheers’ from the assembled party of dignitaries who had climbed the twisting 235 steps to the top of the 200ft high tower to witness the historic event, while presenter Howard Bentham, from BBC Hereford & Worcester, which had organised the event, gave as patriotic a commentary as the sub zero conditions would allow.

Worcestershire County Council chairman Rob Adams probably summed up the situation best when he announced: “I should have brought my hip flask.”

However, it was a proud moment for Elaine Truby from Friesland Close, Perdiswell, Worcester, who won a competition organised by the radio station to design a Worcestershire flag, to see her creation unfurled at last.

“It looks much better up there than it did cut out of sugar paper on my kitchen table,” she said. The 12ft by 6ft flag, made in traditional style in a mix of woven and knitted polyester by Bromsgrove company Up the Pole, carries a design of three black pears set against a background of green for the county’s fields and blue for its rivers.

There are plans for a Worcestershire flag campaign, which should result in a flurry of miniatures, car stickers and badges, to really raise the profile of the county and improve its fortunes.

As Elgar himself said: “God, who made thee mighty, make thee mightier yet”.

What do you think of the flag? Let us know at worcesternews.co.uk.