Flags will flutter on Shrewsbury High Street

The flags have been designed by Shrewsbury-based artist and graphic designer, Daniel Lloyd, from The Hive, as part of a project by Shrewsbury Business Improvement District (BID).

Each flag depicts an animal discovered by Charles Darwin on his epic voyage to the Galapagos Islands, which helped him formulate his theory of evolution.

The flags link with the town centre Darwin trail and are designed to coordinate with the Shoplatch Pocket Park which has been created while High Street is closed to traffic to allow essential gas repair work to be carried out.

Seb Slater, executive director of Shrewsbury BID, said: “We hope the flags will create a colourful spectacle for people walking in High Street, and we would like to thank The Hive for putting us in touch with Daniel who has done an amazing job.

“The flags will form part of the Darwin trail and activity booklets will be available for children to design their own flags and see which animals they can spot.

“It’s all part of our wider work to encourage more people to spend time in the town centre, with the pocket park being created in Shoplatch to take advantage of the lack of traffic using High Street while roadworks take place.”

The artist, Daniel Lloyd, said he had taken some of Darwin's most recognisable discoveries and transformed them into colourful creations through his bold geometric style of design.

“Having the opportunity to work on this project in my hometown has been incredible,” he said.

“Darwin got to see some of these colourful, exotic creatures for the very first time and I wanted to represent the impact they would have had on him through the boldness of these designs.

“Darwin loved Shrewsbury and so do I – much like Darwin with his animals, I'm thrilled to be able to share these designs with the people of Shrewsbury in what is my most public work yet!”

The flags are due to be installed in High Street at the end of May and will be in place throughout May and June.