05/06/2026
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Happy Wiltshire Day! June 5 is the county’s special day – a tradition dating all the way back to… 2007.
It marks the date when the ‘Bustard Flag’ was first flown over County Hall in Trowbridge.
The flag is partly based on the emblem of Wiltshire Council. The alternating green and white stripes represent the grass of the downs and the chalk beneath.
In the centre of the flag is a Great Bustard – the world’s heaviest flying bird.
The large bird was hunted to extinction in the UK in 1832, but in the 1990s a flock from Russia was secretly imported back to the county as part of an intensive breeding programme.
Surrounding the bustard is a circle representing the Neolithic stone circles of Stonehenge and Avebury.
The circle is divided into six alternating green and white sections to represent the surrounding counties of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Hampshire, Dorset and Somerset.
Fun facts about Wiltshire:
Wiltshire is named after Wilton near Salisbury, once the county’s principal town. It lost this honour in 1889 when Trowbridge – which was easily accessible from all parts of the county by train – was assigned the status of county town.
People from Wiltshire are referred to as Moonrakers. A legend dating from before 1787 – the first written record of the tale – suggests that local people smuggling barrels of French brandy were surprised by customs officers and submerged the barrels into the water of a village pond. When challenged by the excise men, the smugglers pointed to the reflection of the moon and claimed they were trying to rake in a round of cheese. Dismissing the ‘yokels’, the officials went on their way.
The phrase ‘as different as chalk and cheese’ is a reference to Wiltshire. With its southern chalk downs and the lush green pastures of the clay soil in the north of the county. Wiltshire was a centre for cheese-making, and the Wiltshire Loaf is mentioned in not one, but two of Jane Austen’s novels.
Amesbury is thought to be Britain’s oldest settlement, dating back to 8820 BC. The Neolithic monument of Stonehenge is two miles to the west. Incidentally, Stonehenge has its own resident Great Bustard, Gertrude. In the north of the county, The Ridgeway – Britain’s oldest road – starts at Avebury.
✍Original copy by Peter Davison, Local Democracy Reporter
