[1] The Flag Institute registered the design after Suffolk County Council displayed the flag on the first "Suffolk Day", and after a number of requests by organisations in the county.

[2] The design is the Saint Edmund's medieval banner of arms.

It is two gold arrows passing through a gold crown or with heraldic description as Azure two Arrows in saltire, points downwards, enfiled with an ancient Crown Or[3] Edmund, the Anglo-Saxon king of East Anglia, is strongly connected with Suffolk with his burial site located in the county at Bury St Edmunds.

Following its hoisting by the County Council, to celebrate the yearly Suffolk Day on 21 June 2017, a campaign was initiated to register the armorial banner of Saint Edmund.

It was supported by twenty-one county based organisations and in light of this local support as well as the emblem's extensive use across the county, the flag was registered by the Flag Institute.