Let us face it. The personal standard used by the Queen is nothing but a logo design. A mark that represents the Queen as an individual and not associated with her role as the Queen of the United Kingdom.

The logo design is the crowned letter ‘E’ in gold, surrounded by a garland of gold roses on a blue background, with a golden fringe. The crown is a symbol of the Queen’s rank and dignity, whilst the roses symbolize the countries of the Commonwealth.

The design is used as disc and appears in the Royal Standards of Australia, Barbados, Canada and New Zealand.

The flag was created upon the Queen’s request in December 1960 to symbolize her as an individual and not associated with her role as Queen of the United Kingdom.

Over time, the flag started to be used in place of the Royal Standard when the Queen visits Commonwealth countries where she is not head of state and for Commonwealth occasions in the United Kingdom, and symbolizes the Queen’s role as Head of the Commonwealth. When the Queen visits Marlborough House in London, for example, her personal flag is raised and not the Royal Standard.

If you are a start up company and are in the process of naming your company and then registering it, it would pay to consider if you are encroching on any trademarks that already exisit.

Usually, especially in the UK, it is very common for small companies to come up with a name and then register it with out thinking about trademark laws. But trademarking is becoming a serious issue and large companies are always on the look out for any such infringements.

Time and again, I have seen clients sign up to our logo design services in the UK, with names that are close to or the exact same (with perhaps little additions) as large brands. We are reluctant to take up such projects because at the end of the day, if a large company decides to take up the case, then as professional designers, we are also partly responsible for the trademark infringement.

My advice would be that when you conduct a search for a name at the companies house, it would also pay to read about what could be considered as trademark infringement with the UK Patent and Trademark Office. You could also spend an hour searching online and learning about trademark facts.

If you have any thoughts on this issue, I would like to invite you to share it with us by posting a comment below.