The red lion rampant on gold was the badge of the traditional province of Fifewhich appears in the council civic arms as a shield on the arm of an armoured knight

The red lion also represents the county’s historical links with the monarchy and subsequently the county’s title as ‘the Kingdom of Fife’ and is also present on the arms of Saint Andrews University

located in the county

The above proposal

from James Wayne Moffatt and Terry Peacock features a light blue and yellow vertical bi-colour, representing the sea to the east of the county and golden rich land to the west, highlighting the often quoted King James VI’s comment that the county was fringed with gold. Across the two coloured panels, at the centre of the flag, is the county’s equally famed red lion. The flag is available to buy from here and is depicted below

in flight over Dairsie Castle.

Philip Tibbetts’s  proposal for the county features blue edging on three sides of the flag symbolising the peninsular nature of the county whilst the golden colour within reflects the territory’s “fringed gold”. The red lion is placed against the golden panel.

Adam Clark’s design again includes the red Lion rampart as an obvious nod to Fife’s royal connections, on its yellow or gold shield. This in turn is placed over a bi-colour field or background, of black and gold, the latter being a darker shade than the shield to provide the necessary contrast. The upper stripe recalls the quote from King James VI about the beaches being fringed with gold. The lower black stripe symbolises the county’s coal industry, a significant feature of Fife’s local heritage, uniquely represented in this design. The coal being taken from the ground, the black is at the base of the flag, with the golden sands at the surface, sitting above.

George Miller and Scott Murphy’s proposal features gold for the wheat of Fife’s fields, blue for the River Forth and the Rampant Lion bearing a sword to recall both the county’s historical ties with the rest of Scotland and the many battles in the locality over the centuries.

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