Editing Middlesex (section)

===Flag and coat of arms===
The [[Flag of Middlesex|Middlesex Flag]] is included in the [[Flag Institute]]'s registry of county and regional flags.<ref>[{{Flag Institute|Middlesex}} Flag Institute Entry for Middlesex]</ref> The flag is a banner of the arms of the former Middlesex County Council, abolished in 1965. A similar design had been used traditionally as a local badge in Middlesex and neighbouring Essex for centuries.

[[File:Uxbridge tube station MMB 03.jpg|thumb|Coats of arms of Middlesex (left) and Buckinghamshire (right) in stained glass at the exit from [[Uxbridge tube station]]]]
[[File:County of Middlesex sign, Barnet, 2014.jpg|thumbnail|right|''County of Middlesex'' sign in 2014, on the border between the London Boroughs of Barnet and Enfield]]
[[Coat of arms|Coats of arms]] were attributed by the mediaeval [[Officer of arms|heralds]] to the kingdoms of the [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] [[Heptarchy]]. That assigned to the [[Kingdom of Essex]], of which the [[Middle Saxons|Middle Saxon Province]] was part, depicted three "[[seax]]es" or short notched swords on a red background. The seaxe was a weapon carried by Anglo-Saxon warriors, and the term "Saxon" may be derived from the word.<ref name=armoury>Doherty, F., ''[http://www.myarmoury.com/feature_seax.html The Anglo Saxon Broken Back Seax]''. Retrieved 20 February 2008.</ref><ref name=saxon>Online Etymology Dictionary – [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Saxon Saxon]. Retrieved 20 February 2008.</ref> These arms became associated with the two counties that approximated to the kingdom: Middlesex and [[Essex]]. County authorities, militia and volunteer regiments associated with both counties used the attributed arms.

In 1910, it was observed that the county councils of Essex and Middlesex and the [[High Sheriff of the County of London|Sheriff's Office]] of the [[County of London]] were all using the same arms. Middlesex County Council decided to apply for a formal grant of arms from the [[College of Arms]], with the addition of a heraldic "difference" to the attributed arms. Colonel Otley Parry, a [[justice of the peace]] for Middlesex and author of a book on military badges, was asked to devise an addition to the shield. The chosen addition was a "Saxon Crown", derived from the portrait of King [[Athelstan of England|Athelstan]] on a silver penny of his reign, stated to be the earliest form of crown associated with any English sovereign. The grant of arms was made by [[letters patent]] dated 7 November 1910.<ref name=times_armorial>{{cite newspaper The Times |title= Armorial bearings of Middlesex |date= 7 November 1910 |issue= 39423 |page= 11}}</ref><ref name=fox>''The Book of Public Arms'', A.C. Fox-Davies, 2nd edition, London, 1915</ref><ref name=scott>''Civic Heraldry of England and Wales'', W.C. Scott-Giles, 2nd edition, London, 1953</ref>
{{Blazon-arms
|img1    = Arms of Middlesex County Council.svg
|legend1 = Arms of the Middlesex County Council
|text    = The arms of the Middlesex County Council were [[blazon]]ed:<br />''Gules, three seaxes fessewise points to the sinister proper, pomels and hilts and in the centre chief point a Saxon crown or.''
}}
The undifferenced arms of the kingdom were eventually granted to Essex County Council in 1932.<ref name=civic_essex>Civic Heraldry of England and Wales – ''[http://www.civicheraldry.co.uk/essex.html#essex_cc Essex County Council] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070203015014/http://www.civicheraldry.co.uk/essex.html#essex_cc |date=3 February 2007 }}''. Retrieved 20 February 2008.</ref> Seaxes were also used in the insignia of many of the boroughs and urban districts in the county, while the Saxon crown came to be a common heraldic charge in English civic arms.<ref>Civic Heraldry of England and Wales – ''[http://www.civicheraldry.co.uk/middlesex.html Middlesex (obsolete)]''. Retrieved 20 February 2008</ref><ref name=scott_giles>C W Scott-Giles, ''Royal and Kindred Emblems'', ''Civic Heraldry of England and Wales'', 2nd edition, London, 1953, p.11</ref> On the creation of the [[Greater London Council]] in 1965 a Saxon crown was introduced in its coat of arms.<ref name=glc>Civic Heraldry of England and Wales – ''[http://www.civicheraldry.co.uk/obs_county.html#glc Greater London Council]''. Retrieved 20 February 2008.</ref> Seaxes appear in the arms of several [[London borough|London borough council]]s and of [[Spelthorne Borough Council]].<ref>Civic Heraldry of England and Wales – ''[http://www.civicheraldry.co.uk/surrey.html#spelthorne_bc Spelthorne Borough Council]''. Retrieved 20 February 2008</ref><ref name=civic_glondon>Civic Heraldry of England and Wales – ''[http://www.civicheraldry.co.uk/great_london.html Greater London]''. Retrieved 20 February 2008.</ref>