Green Flag Award

The Green Flag Award is the benchmark national standard for parks and green spaces in the United Kingdom. The scheme was set up in 1996 to recognise and reward green spaces in England and Wales that met the laid down high standards. It is also seen as a way of encouraging others to achieve the same high environmental standards, creating a benchmark of excellence in recreational green areas. Any free to enter public park or green space is eligible to apply for an Award. The scheme is owned by the Government through the Department for Communities and Local Government, though it is managed by other agents under contract. A pilot scheme was started in 2007 in Scotland and three parks were given awards. Both primary and secondary schools may be awarded the Green Flag in recognition of steps taken towards making the school increasingly eco-friendly. Meanwhile, the award goes to other countries too for example to Germany (Erholungspark Marzahn and others).

Parks and green spaces are judged in April and May each year and the winners are announced in July. Parks must apply each year to keep their Green Flag Award, and winning sites are eligible to fly a Green Flag in the park for a year.

Green flag

A green flag has various significances.

National flags

Other

See also

Green Flag

Green Flag is a British roadside assistance and vehicle recovery provider which is part of the Direct Line Group. Formed in 1971 (as the National Breakdown Recovery Club) as an alternative to the AA and RAC, using a network of local garages and mechanics to deliver recovery and repair services instead of patrolling mechanics. Originally based in Pudsey, their operations are now controlled over several offices within the Direct Line Group.

History

Green Flag started as an idea between two friends - Bob Slicer and Jeffery Pittock - in a pub in Bradford.

At the time, the AA and RAC were well-established, and offered assistance at the roadside. Slicer and Pittock's National Breakdown Recovery Club operated under a different model, using a network of garages and mechanics that would recover and fix member's cars. The mechanics' local knowledge was meant to provide a swifter response to calls than the established competition. When the service began as a three man business (with Ernest Smith) in 1971, membership only covered breakdowns within a 50-mile radius of their Morley Street base in Bradford, and cost £1.50 a year. Within three years, NBRC had become the UK's largest breakdown recovery firm with over 100,000 members.

Exercise Red Flag

Exercise Red Flag is an advanced aerial combat training exercise hosted at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. Red Flag – Alaska is held at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, being a successor to the previous COPE THUNDER exercise series in the Western Pacific and Alaska. Since 1975, air crews from the United States Air Force (USAF), United States Navy (USN), United States Marine Corps (USMC), United States Army (USA) and numerous NATO or other allied nations' air forces take part in one of several Red Flag exercises held during the year, each of which is two weeks in duration.

Under the aegis of the United States Air Force Warfare Center (USAFWC) at Nellis, the Red Flag exercises, conducted in four to six cycles a year by the 414th Combat Training Squadron (414 CTS) of the 57th Wing (57 WG), are very realistic aerial war games. The purpose is to train pilots and other flight crew members from the U.S., NATO and other allied countries for real air combat situations. This includes the use of "enemy" hardware and live ammunition for bombing exercises within the adjacent Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR).