Antarctica Flag Competition - DGS's Gitansh Gumpu's design taken on epic journey

In November 2024, the Royal Geographical Societies ran their annual Antarctica Flag competition, in which students from schools across the country are invited to design and submit a flag for Antarctica. Successful submissions are printed and taken on board a journey to Antarctica. We are thrilled to report that the design by Gitansh Gumpu (7F) was chosen for this epic journey.

A huge congratulations to Gitansh as his flag was selected to be taken, on board the RRS Sir David Attenborough, on an incredible 8 week journey. His flag has travelled from Punta Arenas in Chile to South Georgia then to the South Sandwich Islands and the South Orkney Islands before going back to South Georgia and ending in the Falkland Islands. The photo was taken at South Georgia, which is an amazing island that is home to a lot of wildlife including penguins, seals and albatrosses.

 On this cruise, Geographers have been investigating the ocean environment and the animals that live in it, to better understand the role of the Southern Ocean in the world’s climate. This is important research as what happens in Antarctica matters to all of us, no matter where we live. They had a very successful trip, taking lots of measurements of the ocean and seeing what lives there, from animals that live on the sea floor to tiny microscopic plants and animals through to bigger animals including Antarctic krill that float and swim in the sea, right up to the air-breathing animals including whales, seals and seabirds. They have also seen lots of icebergs, some of which have Chinstrap penguins taking a break on them. 

Well done Gitansh for this years submission and for representing DGS in this competition. Submissions for 2025’s RGS flag competition will take place in the first term of the next academic year.