Devon Day is marked each year on the feast day of Saint Petroc, a 6th-century Celtic saint long associated with the county and to whom Devon’s green, white and black county flag is dedicated.
For RealCounties.com, Devon Day is a chance to celebrate not just a beautiful part of the West Country, but one of England’s enduring historic counties: a place of moorland and coast, market towns and great cities, fishing ports and farming communities, ancient parishes and modern life.
From Plymouth to Exeter, Barnstaple to Tavistock, Torbay to Tiverton, Ilfracombe to Axminster, Devon is much more than a council area. It is a historic county with a shared identity reaching across different modern administrative arrangements.
A spokesperson for RealCounties.com said:
“Devon Day is a wonderful opportunity for people across the whole historic county to celebrate Devon as Devon. Councils do important work, but councils are administrative bodies. Counties are the enduring geography of the nation – the places people recognise, belong to, and take pride in.
Whether someone lives in Exeter, Plymouth, Torbay, Barnstaple, Tavistock or a small village on Dartmoor or the coast, they are part of Devon’s living county story. Devon Day belongs to all of Devon.”
The county’s flag, often known as Saint Petroc’s Flag, has become one of the strongest modern symbols of Devon identity. Its green, white and black design is now widely seen across the county and beyond.
RealCounties.com is encouraging residents, schools, community groups, local businesses and heritage organisations to mark the day by flying the Devon flag, sharing local Devon history, using Devon proudly in place descriptions, and exploring the county’s historic geography.
The Office for National Statistics has recognised historic counties as a stable, unchanging geography that covers the whole of England, Scotland and Wales, and the 2024 Index of Place Names includes historic county information for places across Great Britain.
RealCounties.com exists to make that geography easier to understand. Its interactive map helps users distinguish historic counties from council areas, lieutenancies and other modern administrative or ceremonial boundaries.
The spokesperson added:
“Devon Day is not about looking backwards. It is about recognising something that still matters today. County identity supports tourism, heritage, sport, local pride, community belonging and the way people describe where they are from.
Devon’s landscapes, towns, villages, people and traditions all deserve to be celebrated under the name they share: Devon.”
Devon Day is celebrated annually on 4 June. More information about historic counties and the Real Counties map is available at RealCounties.com.
Notes for editors
RealCounties.com is a public reference website produced by the Historic Counties Institute. It maps and explains the historic counties of Britain and Ireland, distinguishing them from council areas, lieutenancies, statistical areas and other administrative geographies.
Devon Day is widely marked on 4 June, the feast day of Saint Petroc. Saint Boniface was recognised as patron saint of Devon in 2019, but Devon Day remains associated with Saint Petroc’s feast day and the Devon flag.