In 2007 the official Wiltshire County flag was unveiled and hoisted ceremoniously over County Hall.

But what is depicted on the flag? Well, you'd be forgiven for thinking it is a white horse, given there are so many dotted around the county.

Instead, it is a bird that was previously known to be extinct until the turn of the millennium, the Great Bustard.

The Great Bustard is the iconic bird of Wiltshire and features on the county flag, coat of arms, and crest. 

Great Bustards were hunted to near extinction in the UK in the early 1800s. They remained absent from their former haunts until 1998 when Dave Waters MBE founded a project intending to return this enigmatic species to the plains of southern England, and, fittingly, Wiltshire.

According to AllThingsWildlife, eggs and chicks were sourced from Russia and Spain before being raised in captivity in enclosures on Salisbury Plain.

The birds are carefully fed by puppets and then carers in 'dehumanisation suits' which ensures that they don't become imprinted or habituated to people. Once fledged they are then released onto the surrounding arable land where they live freely in loosely formed groups of males or females.

In 2009 the Great Bustard Project reached this major milestone when the first wild-born chicks fledged.

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The flag of Wiltshire

The flag depicts the emblem of a great bustard in gold on a solid green circle. The rim of this circle consists of six sections in alternate green and white.

These evoke the famous stone circles of Stonehenge and Avebury, while also representing Wiltshire’s six neighbouring counties.

Behind this emblem lies a field of alternate green and white wavy lines, which represent the county’s open grassland and underlying chalk.

The great bustard is also the High Sheriff's symbol and the Girl Guides' badge.