VOTING is now open to decide on a new flag for Monmouth.

More than 90 designs have been entered for the town flag competition, which was launched in May in the Beacon. 70 entries were submitted by local school students.

Four flag designs are on public display in Monmouth's Nelson Museum for the public to vote on and decide the winning flag design. The four designs will also be put on the Shire Hall website for online voting.

The assessment panel, with the design skills and the advice of the Community Vexillologist from the Flag Institute, produced the four flag designs.

One was a single design and the other three were compilations based on three of the design themes submitted.

The four flag designs are as follows.

• Flag A: The golden bridge over the blue represents the iconic crossing over the River Monnow with the green of the background, the same shade as the Welsh flag, representing Monmouth as an historically important crossing into Wales.

Above the bridge is a simple depiction of the gatehouse, offset to the hoist for visibility.

• Flag B: The Y-shaped pall symbolises the name Monmouth as where the River Monnow meets the River Wye.

In the hoist section is placed a white heraldic antelope head, in honour of the town's most famous son, Henry V.

The colours red, gold and blue recall those of the town's civic arms, which also feature three golden chevrons.

• Flag C: A flying kingfisher recalls the wildlife of the rivers and is the badge of Monmouth Town Football Club.

Here it is placed on a horizontal tricolour of blue, white and orange, which further reflect the distinctive colours of the kingfisher.

• Flag D: This is inspired by the civic arms of the town, but reinterpreted so as to have the chevrons face the hoist – considered forward in vexillography.

As the design work for the four choices took longer than anticipated timetable for voting has been revised. Voting commenced on Monday 6th July and ends at 4pm on Monday 20th July.

The results will be announced on Wednesday 22nd July with the launch event and award ceremony taking place on Friday 31st July.

The winning unique design will be formally registered at the Flag Institute, and could be hung from the wall-mounted poles down Monnow Street. It will also be made into bunting that could be strung across Church Street and individuals will be able to buy and fly the Monmouth flag.

Cast your vote for your favourite flag on the Beacon's homepage web poll.