Flags are symbols that communicate culture and history to the rest of the world. Having one can reinstate to the people their heritage and what they or their place has achieved over the years. Hull is a city with a vast history of fishing, trading, manufacturing amongst other things, yet we have very few symbols to use to represent ourselves. Adopting a flag will change that.

I'm a 15-year-old hopeful vexillographer, who wants people to stop thinking of Hull as a city of crime, deprivation and gloom, instead being a historic maritime haven - a name often associated with other cities such as Portsmouth and Bristol. The flag I created stresses on this history, with the central design being a mix of a ship and a fish. When making the ship, I tried combining elements from both historic fishing and trading vessels, as both were equally important in growing out the city. The fish is a cod - a well-known species fished in the North Atlantic, where our vessels went to work. The coronet atop the yard (crossbar of the mast) is part of the famous three crowns that have been a symbol of Hull for centuries, and the English pennant flying at the top of the mast is a reference to how the Siege of Hull kicked off the English Civil War. The blue stands for the waters of the River Hull and Humber (although more realistically it should be brown!) and the white stands for a want for peace in the city, as we are one of the most crime-filled cities in the UK.

City flags that residents can use - called "people's flags" - are registered through the Flag Institute, which can only happen with support from the Hull community. Please, if you support this design and what it stands for, sign the petition. Thank you.

- James