The MOD is encouraging councils, businesses and homes across the country to show their support for our Armed Forces by flying a special flag celebrating Armed Forces Day.
The Armed Forces Day flag.
The Armed Forces Day Flag - available to the public from today - will be flown to mark the build up to the first ever national Armed Forces Day on Saturday 27 June 2009 - two months from today. This new event will take place every year to celebrate the UK's Armed Forces - past, present and future.
Hundreds of Councils have already pledged to raise the Armed Forces Day Flag at 10.30am on Monday 22 June to officially commence a week of celebrations in honour of our Armed Forces and now businesses and homes will be able to join them in showing their backing for the Forces by raising and flying their flags at the same time on that day.
The centrepiece of the celebrations on 27 June will be the historic dockyard at Chatham, Kent, but there are dozens of events organised around the country to show appreciation for Her Majesty's Forces. Major celebrations will take place in Cardiff, Glasgow, Blackpool, Portsmouth, Nottingham, Southend, Edinburgh, Caernarfon, Birmingham, Manchester, Stirling and Plymouth, among others.
Armed Forces Day at Chatham will include fly-pasts historic and current aircraft, including the Red Arrows, have-a-go activities with the Armed Forces and a veterans parade in the Dockyard. Cardiff will see spectacular displays from the RAF Falcons Parachute Display Team and 'The Red Devils', the Parachute Regiment Freefall Team, along with music from the Central Band of the Royal Air Force and the Welsh Guards Band.
Veterans Minister Kevan Jones said:
Our Armed Forces make huge personal sacrifices to defend the UK and their efforts deserve support and recognition. It would be a very special for them to see homes, businesses and councils across the country showing their support by flying the flag on Armed Forces Day.
The purpose of Armed Forces Day is to celebrate what our veterans have already achieved, what our current personnel continue to achieve, and the opportunities the Armed Forces offer our future generations. The Armed Forces Day Flag sends out a clear message that will be appreciated by all our service personnel, past, present and future.
The design of the Armed Forces Day flag is based on the Union Jack and it measures 5ft by 3ft. Flags cost £10, which includes postage and packaging to UK addresses, VAT and a £1 donation to the Forces Children's Trust, a charity devoted to helping dependent children that have lost a parent whilst serving with the Armed Forces.
Are you organising an event for 22 June? Visit our resources section to download a template press release to help publicise your event.