Charles Ashburner

Charles Ashburner is a flagmaker and vexillologist, and Chief Executive Trustee of the Flag Institute.

The Flag Institute
Ashburner briefly sat on the council of the Flag Institute from October 2007 to late 2008. He organised the Flag Institute Autumn Meeting 2008, and Flag Institute Spring Meetings of 2009, 2010, and 2011. In November 2010 Ashburner was elected to the newly created post of General Secretary, assuming responsibility for directing the Institute's activities. Following the Flag Institute's conversion to a charity on 17 November 2012 Ashburner became Chief Executive of the Flag Institute and one of its five governing Trustees.

The Nation's Flag Flying Permanently From Parliament
Until early 2010 the national flag of the United Kingdom was only flown from the Houses of Parliament when parliament was actually sitting, and when the House rose it was taken down and the flagpole left bare. The Flag Institute with the Flags and Heraldry Committee campaigned to see the flag flown permanently, to signify the enduring sovereignty of parliament and to act as the foremost flag of the nation, day and night every day of the year. In early 2010 Black Rod agreed that this should be so and since then the flag has flown all the time. This change was marked by a lunchtime reception on Tuesday 22 March 2011 in the River Room, House of Lords, hosted by Alan West, Baron West of Spithead and Andrew Rosindell MP and organised by Charles Ashburner.

UK Flag Flying Regulations
On 14 May 2011 at the Flag Institute Spring Meeting the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles announced his intention to liberalise flag flying regulations in the UK. On 30 June 2011 Charles Ashburner, Graham Bartram and Malcolm Farrow of the Flag Institute met with officials of the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) at the Institute's Mayfair address and were invited to draft new flag flying regulations. This document (with the working title Freedom to fly flags; Relaxation of statutory constraints on the display of flags) was submitted to DCLG on 26 July 2011. In a letter to Charles Ashburner dated 19 August 2011, The Right Honourable Eric Pickles MP requested that the Flag Institute "continue to work with officials to ensure we deliver a set of proposals that are acceptable to all of Whitehall." The resulting discussion paper titled Liberalising the regime for flying flags was published by DCLG in January 2012. The consultation period lasted from 6 January 2012 to 30 March 2012, with the results of the consultation being published on 20 September 2012 The new regulations were laid before Parliament on 17 September 2012 and came into force on 12 October 2012

Andrew Rosindell MP, Chair of the all-party parliamentary Flags and Heraldry Committee said: "'For centuries, flags have been used to display and promote the identity of nations, communities and organisations. I am delighted that British people will now be encouraged to hoist a banner and continue this tradition without restriction.'" Charles Ashburner, Chief Executive of the Flag Institute said; "“This really is a new Freedom to Fly Flags. In our super fast world of instant news and ever changing technology, flags remain the ultimate symbol of identity. The deregulation of flag flying regulations is something which everyone who believes in freedom of expression should support. [This is] an important step towards encouraging and protecting the huge variety of different community and individual identities of which British society should be so proud.”"

Vexillology
Between 1997 and 2003 Ashburner owned and operated the FlagWire vexillological newsfeed, which was edited by the late Devereaux D. Cannon, Jr. Between 1995 and 2012 Ashburner owned and operated FOTW.net, the UK mirror of the global flag reference website.

Ashburner's area of special vexillological interest is propaganda and UK politics, and he has made flags for various campaigns including Go Fourth, and Wage Concern.

Ashburner owns and hosts FOTW.net, the UK mirror of the global flag reference website.

Vexillography
Ashburner is a self-taught vexillographer, using Adobe Illustrator CS2 + CS3 + CS4 + CS5, Adobe Photoshop CS3 + CS4, and CorelDraw X3. His commercial designs include the All Faiths Flag and a range of rugby flags related to the UK's 6 nations tournament. Ashburner has also designed flags for a number of high profile individuals, notably Alastair Campbell and Jason Salkey.

Media
Ashburner is the subject of numerous newspaper articles        and is a regular contributor to radio  and television news programmes. Ashburner occasionally writes and is published in Flagmaster, the journal of the Flag Institute

Sponsorship
Ashburner has sponsored the Commonwealth Games Council for Wales, Morriston Orpheus Choir, South Gower RFC, and the Gala on the Green at RAF Linton-on-Ouse. Ashburner sponsored the delegate-packs for the International Congress of Vexillology in York in 2001, and in 2009 donated the 5mx3m Welsh Flag presented to the Welsh community in Patagonia by Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas on behalf of the Welsh Assembly Government

Other Interests
Ashburner is flag consultant to the Liberty Stadium and is the official vexillologist of Sport Wales. He owns the MrFlag flag brand