Stoke Mandeville Stadium flies the flag for the 2012 Games

The official flag is flying over Buckinghamshire for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

It was hoisted for the first time this morning (Wednesday April 20) in Market Square, Aylesbury, to celebrate the week of the 500-day countdown to the Paralympic Games and to coincide with the Buckinghamshire 2012 Conference at the Waterside Theatre.

Raising the flag, County Council Deputy Leader Bill Chapple said: 'We're proud to be supporting the Olympic and Paralympic Games in so many ways. You'd expect nothing less from the county which is the birthplace of the Paralympic Games.'

As a Host County Buckinghamshire is heavily involved in preparations for the London 2012 Games. The council's Green Park Centre at Aston Clinton is one of 23 official training camps in the county; Libraries and Heritage Team are leading the Mandeville Legacy programme, the County Museum in Aylesbury will host the Paralympic History of Bucks as part of the nationwide Our Sporting Life exhibition; transport, planning and trading standards teams are involved in the planning of operations at Dorney Lake where rowing and sprint-canoeing events take place.

And on April 28 young people from across the county will look forward to the Olympic and Paralympic Games when they come together at Stoke Mandeville Stadium for an interactive 2012-inspired conference featuring Chris Holmes, the head of the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

Appropriately, the official flag was presented to County Council Chairman David Polhill yesterday (Tuesday April 19) by Paul Deighton, LOCOG Chief Executive, at Stoke Mandeville Stadium, the spiritual birthplace of the Paralympic Games.