Principality of Poyais (1820) (Belize) (original) (raw)

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[ [Civil flag] ](../images/b/bz%5Fpoy.gif)
from Roberto Breschi's site

Overview
State Flag

See also:

Overview

The fictitious state of Poyais was promoted in the 1820's by General "Sir" Gregor MacGregor as a means of raising fraudulent loans. He had obtained a land grant from a local Indian king in what would now be Belize, and on this basis created an entirely fictitious state with himself as ruler. To bolster his claims he provided detailed accounts not only of the country's geography and economic resources but of its state coat of arms, military uniforms etc., including the national flag, which was a green St. George's Cross on a white background. He went so far as to send out colonists (most of whom never returned) and this flag was actually hoisted on the ship wich carried them. For all this see "Sir Gregor MacGregor and the land that never was " by David Sinclair(Headline Books, 2003, 0 7553 1079 9), especially page 9.
Kenneth Fraser, 1 June 2005

See <www.antiquarypartnership.com> for a "land grant" featuring the coat-of-arms.
On Roberto Breschi's site (in Italian), at the end of his page on Nicaragua, a picture of the flag in question:
Apparently McGregor had already been at it in Florida (State of Amelia, 1817), see Roberto Breschi's site. for the "State of Amelia". Breschi notes McGregor's preference for green crosses.
Biography: <www.clangregor.org>.
Jan Mertens, 1 June 2005

State Flag

[ [State Flag] ](../images/b/bz%5Fpoy-s.gif)
from Roberto Breschi's site

[ [State Flag - variant] ](../images/b/bz%5Fpoy-s-lp.gif)
image according Lucien Philippe, 20 January 2013