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A campaign has been instigated by civic officials to gain Purple Flag status for the town centre at Aberystwyth.

The Purple Flag gived the town a seal of approval that its night-time entertainment and facilities attain a nationally recognised standard. The flag will also demonstrate that the town is making an effort to negate any negative aspects that may deter people visiting the town at night.

In an interview with the Cambrian News newspaper, Peter Huge, the town’s night-time economy officer, said that if the town was to be awarded the Purple Flag, he was looking forward to the town’s profile being recognised as a leading seaside destination throughout Wales and the United Kingdom.

It would be quite an achievement, especially in these days of austerity and should bring a sense of pride to the people of the town,” he said. “It’s been a challenge getting all the partners who do good work separately to pool resources due to the obvious time and logistical constraints organisations have nowadays and become greater than the sum of the parts.

The Association of Town Centre Management will consider whether the town is to be successful in its bid in a meeting on 3rd March. If awarded the flag, the town will have the honour of being the first in Wales to fly the coveted Purple Flag.

A call for the Welsh flag to be flown at the Olympics has been made by Archdruid T James Jones, the Archdruid of Wales. The Archdruid, who governs the historic arts festivals of the nation such as the National Eisteddfod, suggested that the Red Dragon should be flown for any Welsh medallists, and not the Union Jack.

Speaking to a crowd near to where the Eisteddfod will be held in Barry, the Archdruid explained that he had fears that Welsh identity was being threatened by the intrusion of ‘Britishness’, and in order to protect the Welsh heritage the intrusion needed to be fought.

He told the crowd that he Union Jack was a “symbol of Britishness that doesn’t acknowledge the existence of Wales.”

The Archdruid called on the Welsh Assembly Government, local authorities and Welsh universities to lobby the Olympic Games Authority “to raise the Welsh Dragon, not the Union Jack, above all individual Welsh medal winners.” Mr Jones added that other “nations within states”, namely Cornwall, Brittany, the Basque Country and Catalonia should make their voices heard by rejecting what he called “oppressive old empires.”

A new campaign has been started to remove the British Union Jack flag on the Australian flag by a group of high-profile Australians, who are advocating for a new flag.

Prominent scientist Tim Flannery and Olympic swimmer Dawn Fraser are both part of the group calling for a new flag and eliminating the confusion the current flag causes, because it “highlights and promotes the flag of another nation”.

The current Australian flag contains the Union Jack in the top left corner with a seven-point Commonwealth star beneath, with a depiction of the Southern Cross constellation on the right of the flag.

Ausflag, the group advocating for this change, issued a statement on Australia Day – 29th January – explaining why it was seeking the rebranding of the national flag.

We must boldly take the next step and define ourselves confidently and distinctly before the world,” the group said. “Our new flag must be unambiguously and inclusively Australian, representing all of us equally.

This isn’t the first time calls for a new flag have appeared, however previous efforts have failed to reach agreement on what the new flag should look like. The suggestions for the new design include the Aboriginal flag, which features a yellow sun on a red and black background, and the Southern Cross rising above Ayers Rock.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has said she is a “big advocate of the current Australian flag” and is reluctant to change it, so the campaigners seem to have a tough battle on their hands.

A prep school in London has been awarded the highly-sought-after Eco-Schools Green Flag after they showed they can combine urban and environmentally friendly ways of living.

Belmont Mill Hill Prep School is the latest of 1,255 schools across the UK to have won the prestigous recognition, bestowed upon schools that have made a quantifiable and significant effort to improve the green credentials of the school.

The efforts of the children at Belmont Mill Hill School have included them work to make eco-friendly practices an every-day way of life within the school.

The flag has been earned for the work they have done the past three years, which has included establishing a nature reserve on school grounds, providing school dinners with a vegetable garden planted, and holding annual Belmont Green Week.

Lynn Duncan, Headmistress of the school, said every single pupil played a part in gaining the flag:

Each pupil will be able to take away some degree of satisfaction in the knowledge their actions have significantly altered their local environment. It is by no means over, however, as the greater challenge is to maintain what we have achieved so far and look towards ways of improving even further.