In 2013, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Eric Pickles formally recognised and acknowledged the continued existence of England's 39 historic counties. On 23 April 2014 a new initiative was announced to support the ‘tapestry’ of traditional English counties, including the removal of a restriction preventing the names of traditional counties being displayed on street and road signs. In August 2014, the first road sign was erected to mark the boundary of the historic county of Yorkshire. The Government is also publishing a new online interactive map of England’s county boundaries. The Government has previously changed rules to allow local and county flags to be flown without planning permission, and supported the Flag Institute in encouraging a new wave of county and community flags to be designed and flown by local communities. The flags of England's historic counties have been flown from Government offices in support of these identities. Of the 39 historic counties in England, 37 now have registered flags, many of them recently adopted. In July 2019 the UK Government published official guidance on Celebrating the Historic Counties of England, stating that