Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (original) (raw)


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Flag of St Vincent and the Grenadinesimage by Zoltan Horvath, 14 September 2024

Description of the flag

The flag is vertically blue yellow green 1:2:1, with three green diamonds. Diamonds are said to represent that islands are “gems of Antilles”. The flag was introduced in October 21st 1985.
Željko Heimer, 29 Jan 1996

The Album 2000 [pay00] says:

1. National Flag. CSW/CSW2:3

Vertical tricolour of blue-yellow-green, the yellow being double the width of each of the other two, and with three green lozenges, two and one in the middle of it. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is one of those rare Commonwealth countries that did not adopt the British ensign system and uses one national flag for all purposes. The ratio is also not quite according to British traditions.
Željko Heimer, 02 Jan 2003

After a local competition failed to produce a satisfactory design, the problem was submitted to a Swiss graphic artist who suggested what is now the current design.
Ivan Sache, 31 Jan 2000, quoting from [rya97]

The Swiss graphic artist who designed the current flag of St Vincent is the late Julien van der Wal. Among many of creations, he is also the author of the current flag of the Canton of Geneva.
Tal Schibler, 24 Mar 2010

Julien van der Wal was the Swiss designer of the Saint Vincent and Grenadines flag (source: article in the Encyclopedia Britannica, by Whitney Smith
Dave Martucci, 23 Jan 2010

The present flag of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines came into use officially on Monday October 21, 1985. That morning there was a ceremony at the War Memorial in Kingston to mark the change over. According [v9c85], a leaflet produced in 1985 at the Government Printing Office in Kingston, the symbolism of the flag is as follows:

The green diamonds are shaped in a V for St. Vincent, and reflect the plural nature of the many islands of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. These gems define St. Vincent and the Grenadines as the gems of the Antilles. The Blue represents the sky and sea. the gold is for warmth, the bright spirit of the people and the golden sands of the Grenadines. The Green represents the lush vegetation of St. Vincent’s agriculture and the enduring vitality of the people. The Flag may be called “The gems”.

Jos Poels 03 Dec 1996

The Grenadines consist of two groups, the Northern and the Southern Grenadines; the latter belong to Grenada, among which are Carriacou, Petite Martinique, Diamind island, Ronde island, Les Tantes, Caille island, London Bridge island, The Sisters, Green island, Bird island. In total there are c. 600 Grenadines. 34,5 sq. km. belong toGrenada; 45,3 sq. km. to St. Vincent. (source: Fischer Weltalmanach 2000)
Jarig Bakker, 03 Feb 2000

Photos of the national flag:
https://www.alamy.com/...st-vincent-and-the-grenadines-flag
https://annsvg.com/index.php
image cropped from Opening Ceremony of Paris 2024 Olympics
Zoltan Horvath, 14 September 2024

Colour specifications

Sources available on internet show the national flag with two different shade of blue.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade, and Regional Integration has a page about national flag with illustration (with a darker shade of blue):https://foreign.gov.vc. This page shows an image of a lighter shade of blue, but flag illustration has a darker shade of blue:https://caribbean.loopnews.com

The House of Assembly has a page about History of flag which use text and illustrations from FOTW:http://assembly.gov.vc/assembly

I haven�t found any legal document on color specification of the flag. There is no official source that gives exact colors of the national flag; colors listed below are all approximate colors from the documented sources.

Zoltan Horvath, 14 September 2024

The protocol manual for the London 2012 Olympics (Flags and Anthems Manual London 2012 [loc12]) provides recommendations for national flag designs. Each NOC was sent an image of the flag, including the PMS shades, for their approval by LOCOG. Once this was obtained, LOCOG produced a 60 x 90 cm version of the flag for further approval. So, while these specs may not be the official, government, version of each flag, they are certainly what the NOC believed the flag to be.
For St Vincent & the Grenadines: PMS 286 blue, 109 yellow, 354 green. The vertical flag is simply the horizontal version turned 90 degrees clockwise.
Ian Sumner, 10 October 2012

The Flag Manual - Beijing 2008 gives Pantone colors: PMS 102 (yellow), PMS 300 (blue), and PMS 355 (green).

The Album des Pavillons 2000 [pay00] (Corr. No. 6.) gives approximate colors in Pantone and CMYK systems:
Blue: Pantone 300c, CMYK 100-45-0-0
Yellow: Pantone 116c, CMYK 0-10-90-0
Green: Pantone 347c, CMYK 100-0-80-5
Dark Blue: Pantone 287c, CMYK 100-70-0-10

Flags and Anthems Manual London 2012 [loc12] gives Pantone colors: PMS 286 (blue), PMS 109 (yellow), and PMS 354 (green).

The Album des Pavillons 2023 already specifies the colors of the flags in three color systems:
Dark blue: Pantone 287c, CMYK 99-80-0-0, RGB 0-53-173
Blue: Pantone 300c, CMYK 88-57-0-0, RGB 0-103-198
Yellow: Pantone 116c, CMYK 0-19-93-0, RGB 255-206-0
Green: Pantone 347c, CMYK 84-12-94-1, RGB 0-149-67

Vexilla Mundigives colors in Pantone system: PMS 116C (yellow), PMS 347C (green), and PMS 300C (blue).

Wikipediaillustrates the flag, and construction details, but doesn�t give any color specification.
The Italian version gives RGB color values:
Blue: 0-114-198, Yellow: 252-209-22, and Green: 0-158-96.

Flag Color Codes gives the following color values:
Blue: Hex # 002674, RGB 0-38-116, CMYK 100-80-0-12, Pantone 286, RAL 5002
Yellow: Hex # FCD022, RGB 252-208-34, CMYK 0-5-100-0, Pantone 109, RAL 1018
Green: Hex #007C2E, RGB 0-124-46, CMYK 85-0-98-0, Pantone 354, RAL 6037

Zoltan Horvath, 14 September 2024

Coat of arms

SVG Gov. Gen.gif) image located by Zoltan Horvath, 14 September 2024

What is generally shown as the current form of the Arms would have been designed by a herald at the College of Arms in London when the Arms were granted in 1912. However the scene on the shield is not original. It is a copy of the Seal of St Vincent which was in use before 1839 when it appeared in an anaglyptograph of _Seals of the Colonies of the British Empire_[g9bXXc].
David Prothero, 12 Nov 2008

The coat of arms shows peace and justice. It comprises of the arms, two women dressed in classical peplos, Peace and Justice. One of the women holds an olive branch (peace) while the other is shown before an altar (justice). Above the shield is the crest with a sprig of cotton plant. The coat of arms bears the motto 'PAX ET JUSTITIA' which in Latin means �Peace and Justice.� The coat of arms was designed by Elaine Liverpool.
Zoltan Horvath, 14 September 2024

SVG Gov. Gengovt.gif) image located by Zoltan Horvath, 14 September 2024

The Government uses a slightly different version, without the crest with a sprig of cotton plant: https://www.gov.vc/index.php
Zoltan Horvath, 14 September 2024

Governor General (since 1979)

SVG Gov. Gen image by Zoltan Horvath, 14 September 2024

The Album 2000 [pay00] says:

2. Governor General. 1:2

Blue flag with the royal crest and yellow ribbon inscribed in black "St VINCENT & THE GRENADINES".
Željko Heimer, 02 January 2003

The flag is the standard GG flag charged with St. Edward�s crown. Based on images I found on the Internet, she still uses the St. Edward�s crown on her flag.

Images of the flag:
https://www.gov.vc/index.php/home/governor-general
https://caribbean.loopnews.com
https://caribbean.loopnews.com
https://www.iwnsvg.com
Zoltan Horvath, 14 September 2024

Possible flag change

SVG Gov. Gen image by Zoltan Horvath, 14 September 2024

The Album des Pavillons 2023 has already illustrated the flag of Governor General with a Tudor crown. This flag has not (yet) been seen in use.
Zoltan Horvath, 14 September 2024

Incorrect red flag

SVG Gov. Genimage by Željko Heimer and Victor Lomantsov, 03 Jan 2003

In 1993 Michel Lupant wrote in _Gaceta de banderas_[gdb] about a red flag of governor-general.
Victor Lomantsov, 03 Jan 2003

According to Michel Lupant, it should be blue; it will be corrected by him in Gaceta as soon as possible.
Armand du Payrat, 06 Jan 2003

Governor General flag was never red but blue, it was a mistake in the translation in Gaceta.
Michel Lupant, 19 Jun 2005

Storm flag signals

pierced blackimage by Antonio Martins, 15 Aug 1999

According to the WMO book [c9h07], Saint Vincent and the Grenadines partially use the well-known US signal set: