Contrary to popular beleif it is argued that Cornwall has never been a shire county of England, it is in fact a Duchy. Maps up until the reformation show Cornwall as one of four seperate nations of Britain and that as late as 1856 the Duchy of Cornwall was still asserting it rights, claiming that Cornwall had never been part of England. A duchy is by definition, territory ruled by a duke, in this case Prince Charles, the Duke of Cornwall. However, there is a distinction between Cornwall and the Duchy of Cornwall, the latter being all the lands owned by the Duke.
The Duchy is effectively a property company with around half its holdings in Devon - other large holdings include parts of Herefordshire and Somerset. Prince Charles does not receive money from the state. His income comes from the £6m-£7m tax free profit generated by the duchy each year on which he pays (a voluntary) 40% tax.
Whether or not Cornwall is a county has little effect on the way it is run - the administrative machinery of Cornwall almost invariably refers to itself as a county, e.g. Cornwall County Council
Cornish Crest
The broad blue and white horizontal lines around the edge of the shield represent the sea. At the centre of the shield are 15 golden roundels - it is a mystery as to what these represent. In the past they were not neccesarily arranged as an iverted triangle. One story is the roundels are the ransom raised in Cornwall for the Duke of Cornwall, captured by the Saracens during the Crusades.
To either side of the shield are a fisherman and a miner reflecting what, until recently were the major industries of the county - now-a-days maybe a hotel owner should be in there somewhere!.
Atop of the shield is a Chough, a relative of the jackdaw. A symbol of Cornwall, it was once a common sight on Cornwall's cliffs but was actually wiped out and has only recetly been re-introduced.
Below the shield is the county motto, "One And All"
Cornish Flag
The Cornish flag is the Cross of St Piran - a black background with a white cross.
It has been suggested that the two tone colouring of the Cornish flag partly inspired the 'Jolly Roger' - the reason being the fearsome reputation of the seagoing Cornish.
Cornish Tartan
Being a celtic nation the Cornish have their own tartans and wear kilts. The picture to the left is of the Cornish National Tartan (left) and Cornish Hunting Tartan (right)
The National Tartan was designed in the 1960s by Cornish bard E.E. Morton-Nance. The colours of the tartan are black, white, saffron or gold, red and blue. The red represents the feet and beak of the chough, the bird that forms Cornwall's emblem. The blue represents the sea for obvious reasons. The black and white form St Piran's Cross as seen on the Cornish Flag. The Black and Gold were the colours of the ancient Cornish kings and can be seen on the present day rugby shirt.
The Hunting Tartan was designed by Sandra Redwood in 1984. It utilises all the colours of the National tartan but on a green background.
There are several other Cornish tartans, but intrestingly the traditional Cornish kilt is black.
Language
Brief description and Cornish phrase book
Facts and Figures
Demographic and statistical information about the Duchy