CEREMONIAL FLAG MIXUP AT THE MANCHESTER COMMONWEALTH GAMES EXPLAINED.
The following message was received from Graham Bartram, Vexillologist for the XVII Commonwealth Games:

There has been a lot of coming and going about the flag at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester so I thought I would clear up the mystery.

The flag raised at the opening ceremony was indeed the wrong design, showing the complete seal of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) on the flag. I suspect this error came about because the complete seal is what is used everywhere else in dressing the games. It appears on almost every item or
building. This was a new flag introduced at these games, so no-one had any experience of what is SHOULD look like to spot the mistake.

After the ceremony the flag was moved to the flagpole that had flown the Royal Standard. This was the same flag as used in the ceremony. The perception that it was changed the next morning may have been caused by the fact that there are TWO CGF flags flying in the stadium. Apart from the ceremonial flag (which is 6ft x 12ft) there is a "look" flag. "Look" flags are the flags that dress the stadium and other venues and show only those nations that are competing at that venue (apart from the stadium that shows everyone's). In addition to the national flags there is a "protocol set" that precedes them: the CGF flag, the English flag and the flags of the various sporting federations. In the case of the stadium the CGF flag in the protocol set was the correct emblem-only design.

For the closing ceremony a new CGF flag was made that was the correct emblem-only design. This is what was lowered and handed to the Melbourne representative.  I still believe that this flag is weak and needs some redesign to make it work. When hanging (as it tends to do in a closed-off stadium) it just looks like a piece of white cloth.

It was a very interesting experience being the "flag person" for such a huge event. I've learnt lots of lessons, such as how to make those indoor trapeziums work in a simple and elegant fashion, the sheer complexity of organizing the right flags for several hundred victory ceremonies, and not to use 6ft x 12ft flags for victory ceremonies in the main stadium even if the broadcasters do say they look better - they are just too big for the flag raisers to cope with elegantly.

Graham Bartram
Games Vexillologist,
XVII Commonwealth Games,
Manchester 2002


THE CORRECT CEREMONIAL FLAG

THE FLAG RAISED AT THE OPENING CEREMONY
Changed Ceremonial Flag

Photos of the (incorrect) flag flying at the Manchester Commonwealth Games
Opening Ceremony (left), and the replacement flag (right) courtesy of Ralph Kelly of the Flag Society of Australia.

Click here to return to Introduction