Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties

Wrong flag displayed for Cornish at Ethnic Commons

BESSEMER - One flag pole sits empty at the Bessemer Ethnic Commons Park after the wrong flag was raised to represent the Cornish, an ethnic group representing the country of Cornwall.

The park features flags representing ethnic groups who settled in Bessemer in the 1880s. Countries also represented at the park include Croatia, Italy, Poland, Sweden and Finland.

Cornwall is a ceremonial country and unitary authority area of England, within the United Kingdom. The country is a peninsula, bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel and the east by the country of Devon, over the River Tamar.

Originally, a Union Jack flag was raised at the park, representing the UK. However, Cornwall has its own flag.

The flag is black with a white cross, which is commonly understood to represent white tin metal against black ore. Symbolically, some have said the flag's colors are meant to represent the "light of truth shining through the blackness or darkness of evil."

Cornwall's flag is also call Saint Piran's flag, named after a sixth century Cornish abbot.

The UK flag has been removed and a Cornish flag has been ordered to be raised at the park.