County flags – Kent
Invicta flag
Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons
The first county flag I became aware of was the Kent flag. I was born and brought up in Kent, known as the Garden of England, with its fruit orchards and hop fields. I lived there until I left home for college in Lincolnshire and didn’t live there full-time after that.
The flag depicts the rearing, (rampant in heraldic language) White Horse of Kent on a red background. It is seen everywhere in the county, though not always in colour. It is also known as the Invicta flag. Invicta means ‘unconquered’ and is the motto of Kent.
The White Horse of Kent dates from the Jutish Kingdom of Kent in the 6th to 8th centuries. The legend holds that the horse was the symbol of Horsa, the brother of Hengest/Hengist. The Old English name Horsa means ‘horse.’ Hengest means ‘stallion.’
It is believed that Hengist and Horsa were Germanic warrior brothers, who led the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes to invade Britain in the 5th century. At first, they supported Vortigern, King of the Britons, but turned against him. Horsa was killed in the fighting, but Hengist conquered Kent in 449 and is regarded as the first Jutish king of Kent. He is said to have been buried at Hengistbury Head, in Dorset.
However, the assertions made by the Venerable Bede in his 8th century ‘Ecclesiastical History,’ could not be proved. The general consensus is that Hengist and Horsa were creatures of legend, probably based on real people, but we shall never know for certain.
