In 2019, following the adoption of flags for fellow Hebridean islands Barra and South Uist, a competition

was announced to select one for Benbecula.

By November the process had been postponed and the following statement issued,

“Owing to administrative issues the Benbecula down select panel needs to be re-run. Organising the logistics of this has been complex and is ongoing. The competition is currently paused until this can be resolved and will hopefully resume later in the year”.

In the meantime a proposal had appeared depicting a mermaid

in reference to a local legend. The black background represents the common nickname for the Isle of Benbecula as the Dark Island whilst the yellow stripes recall the sand of the island’s beaches, The mermaid was supposedly discovered in 1830 by islanders who accidentally killed her.

When her body washed ashore 2 days later the local lawman, the Chief of Clan MacDonald of ClanRanald proposed to bury the creature in the nearby graveyard. The superstitious islanders refused to bury her with their own dead and so she was buried in an unmarked grave on the dunes between the beach where she was found and the graveyard but was given a full Christian funeral. Sadly no mermaid remains have ever been found but apparently official testimonies of an entire village, a priest, a lawman and a Clan Chief all describe the same creature and her burial!

A flag representing the entire Outer Hebrides (Western Isles) archipelago also exists.

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Benbecula