Black Country flag row: Thousands join backlash over 'offensive' label

Today marks the annual Black Country Day and dozens of events have been taking place to celebrate the area's rich history and heritage.

But anti-racism campaigner Patrick Vernon OBE stood by his remarks and insisted the area was 'still in denial' over its links to the slave trade. Mr Vernon said chains on the official Black Country flag were a 'disturbing' image of an industry that profited from slavery and colonial rule in Africa.

And he added: "If we were in America the chains logo would be seen as the equivalent as the Confederate Flag."

But his comments drew a ferocious response from Express & Star readers, with 6,757 people voting overwhelmingly in an online poll that the flag was not offensive, while 334 said it was.

By Tuesday, that number had grown to more than 11,000

Ninety-five per cent disagreed with Mr Vernon and hundreds more left comments on the E&S website and Facebook pages.

One council leader has now invited Wolverhampton-born Mr Vernon to visit the Black Country and see it for himself.

Sandwell Council's Darren Cooper said: "It is simply wrong to say the flag is offensive. I'm inviting Mr Vernon to visit and see the diversity of our culture."

Mayor of Wolverhampton Ian Brookfield, said: "The flag has been flying for several years in an area populated by one million people. And not once in that time has anyone made a comment like this."

Tom Watson, West Bromwich East MP said: "I love the flag. Patrick is the only person who has ever raised this concern and he must have an over active imagination."

The flag was designed in 2012 by schoolgirl Gracie Sheppard from Stourbridge. Her design was inspired by Elihu Burritt, the American consul to Birmingham who described the region as 'black by day and red by night'. The white cone in the middle symbolises the Red House Glass Cone.

Organisers of Black Country Day celebrations said on their Facebook page: "A 12-year-old girl designed a flag that has united a community. The Black Country is a proud multicultural society."

Valerie Vaz, MP for Walsall South, said: "The flag is a symbol of unity. Gracie produced a clever design that inspires our multi-cultural present and future."

Mr Vernon, from All Saints, Wolverhampton, and is an ex-London Labour councillor, said the Black Country had shied away from the role it played in slavery and was trying to 'pretend it never happened'.