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Wales Online
Wales Online
National
Reem Ahmed

Huge eight-storey Union Jack to be stuck on Cardiff city centre tax office

A huge Union Jack flag is set to be emblazoned on the side of Cardiff's HMRC tax office.

Cardiff Council has recently given the go-ahead for the plans, which are classed as an "advertisement", on the landmark city-centre building.

The design will see a Union Jack flag graphic wrapped around the outside of the massive building that was recently constructed in the city's Central Square development. The addition comes after new guidance in March which asked UK government buildings in Wales to fly the Union Flag every day, with the rules coming into force over the summer.

A mock-up of how it'll look at night (Mark Lewis/Adam Walker/WalesOnline)

It will comprise of a perforated vinyl applied to the surface of upper-level windows at the southeast corner of the building.

The base of the design will be nine metres off the ground, its dimensions measuring 32 metres in height by nine metres in width.

The council's report states that the advertisement is subject to a statutory time limit, with the HMRC's planning application seeking an advertisement period from 1 May 2021 until 1 May 2026.

The flag will wrap around the south east corner of the building, pictured (Aecom 2021)
The development also includes the inscription "Tŷ William Morgan House 2021" at the entrance to the building (Aecom 2021)

The approved plans, which you can see here, also include a new gilded inscription of "Tŷ William Morgan House 2021" on the ground level entrance wall of the government hub.

The plans were received by Cardiff Council on May 12, and the decision notice was issued on June 29.

The same legislation regarding the flying of the Union Jack applies to England and Scotland but does not affect Northern Ireland where there are different rules for flying the Union Jack.

Drawings from the planning application show the placement of the flag on the south side of the building (Aecom 2021)
How the flag will look from the east side of the building (Aecom 2021)

Before this, the only requirement was that the flag was flown on all UK Government buildings on designated days, like the Queen's birthday.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said at the time: "The Union flag unites us as a nation and people rightly expect it to be flown above UK Government buildings.

"This guidance will ensure that happens every day, unless another flag is being flown, as a proud reminder of our history and the ties that bind us."

What do you make of the plans? Let us know in the comments below.

The new requirements also saw the Government allow two flags to be flown on one pole - known as 'dual flagging' - to allow organisations to celebrate both their local and national identities.

But further clarifications to the guidance released later in March demanded that the Union Jack must always be flown in a superior position to the Welsh flag when displayed on government buildings.

Recently constructed in the Central Square development opposite the BBC building, the keys for the £100 million HMRC tax office were handed over to Secretary of State for Wales Simon Hart on 10 January 2020.

The office block has housed 4,000 civil servants from a number of UK government departments and agencies since late 2020. Its main occupier is HMRC, which moved 3,600 of its staff from its former headquarters in Llanishen.

The building also has the capacity to host full UK cabinet meetings.

It was named Tŷ William Morgan (William Morgan House) after Bishop William Morgan, famous for translating the bible into Welsh in 1588.

HMRC have been approached for further information.

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