An Antarctic Expedition!

After a long journey south, our Antarctic Flags have reached their destination! Congratulations to Lillian Y (Year 7, PGS) and Tumusiime T (Kikaaya College School, Uganda) who submitted the winning entries for this years’ competition. Since Antarctica does not have its own flag, pupils were asked to design their own in celebration of Antarctica Day, which fell on December 1st. This is the date that the Antarctic Treaty was signed back in 1959; in a rare example of international cooperation, world nations agreed to ban military activity and protect the continent as a place for peace and scientific discovery.

Lilian explains the idea behind her flag design, “I used the Emperor Penguin as it is such an enduring species, so I thought it would be perfect for a flag of Antarctica. The background colours and angles represent the scenery of the continent – cold, deep water, glacier blues, ice white and beige for the land under the wintry snow.”

The flags were photographed together at King Edward point in South Georgia. Carrie Gunn (on the right) is a Marine Biologist from the British Antarctic Survey, while Lauren Elliott, from the South Georgia Heritage Trust, grew up in Portsmouth herself. In the background there is a large male Fur Seal surrounded by his family.  These are only Antarctic seals with visible ears! Hunted almost to extinction at the turn of the 20th Century, they have made a spectacular comeback, a small win in the face of today's unprecedented environmental destruction.

You can find out more about this initiative and see Trevor and Lilian’s flags featured on the UK Polar Network website here and you can learn more about Antarctica here.