The design is the same as the coat of arms of the county council, granted in 1951; the heraldic blazon, or description, of the arms is Paly of eight Or and Gules per fess embattled all counterchanged.

[2] It is based on the arms medieval heralds attributed to the Kingdom of Bernicia based on a brief description by the historian Bede of a flag used on the tomb of St Oswald in the 7th century.

[3] The flag should be flown so that the top corner nearest the hoist is gold.

[5] In 2000, a spokesman for the county council stated that the "flag should only be rightfully flown within the present administrative County of Northumberland".

[6] The Flag Institute, a vexillological charity, has included the flag in its "Flag Registry" and considers it to represent the area within the historic county boundaries, which includes northern Tyne and Wear.