Celebrate your county

A celebration everyone can share

County Days are opportunities to learn, meet and celebrate. A gathering can be small: a family meal, a library display, a school activity or a flag at a community hall. Welcome people whose connection is recent as well as those with generations of family history.

Start with the county and the date

Find the county on the RealCounties map and use its geographic boundaries when describing your celebration. Check its profile for the date and any qualification. A public festival or civic ceremony may take place on a nearby weekend; that event date can differ from the annual County Day.

For schools, libraries and museums

Bring together a county flag, a map and one well-sourced story. Compare a historic photograph with the same scene today, explore dialect or literature, or invite people to contribute memories. Explain what a source establishes and distinguish legend from recorded history.

For communities and businesses

Arrange a meal featuring local produce, a music or poetry evening, an accessible heritage walk or an exhibition. Work with existing organisers where a celebration is already established. Give visitors clear information about times, cost, access and booking.

For councils and public institutions

The Government’s July 2019 guidance for England encourages locally led county celebrations and participation by people from different backgrounds. It is non-statutory guidance, rather than a law designating county holidays. Its date list is a historical reference with gaps and discrepancies, not a complete current British calendar.

A public body can celebrate the geographic county or counties across its area while describing its own administrative remit accurately. County identity does not depend on council boundaries or lieutenancy arrangements. Reorganising local administration does not abolish or redefine the geographic counties.

Fly a public county flag

Our County Flags directory distinguishes registered public flags from other designs and proposals. Use the credited artwork and preserve its proportions. For ceremonial arrangements, follow the Flag Institute’s protocol guidance; for installations and advertising controls, check the current guidance for the relevant jurisdiction.

County Days at Parliament

Parliament’s published description of the Speaker’s flagpoles includes historic county days among the occasions they mark. HCI has produced a two-way reference matching the 650 Westminster constituencies with the geographic counties, using the RealCounties map’s Definition A boundary intersections.

The reference helps answer which constituencies contain territory within a county. Electoral areas and geographic counties are separate layers, so constituency names and council areas cannot substitute for this comparison. The county geography follows the Historic Counties Standard, published by the Historic Counties Trust.

HCI’s published account records that the Speaker’s Office acknowledged receipt and confirmed circulation to relevant team members. This establishes acknowledgement and circulation; it does not establish formal parliamentary endorsement, adoption or implementation of the research.

Read HCI’s account · Download the constituency reference (PDF) · Browse the resources collection

Recognition supported by reliable information

The Historic Counties Institute works for wider recognition and use of the geographic counties in public life. Accurate maps, evidence, boundary marking and educational resources help people express that identity clearly. A celebration can give these enduring places a visible, welcoming presence without requiring them to perform an administrative function.