Last modified: 2024-05-04 by rob raeside
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![[Flag of the British Virgin Islands]](../images/v/vg.gif)
image by Martin Grieve, 7 February 2004
Official Name: Virgin Islands, British (BVI)
Capital: Road Town
Location: Caribbean
Government Type: Overseas Territory of the UK with Internal
Self-Governance
Flag adopted: 15
November 1960
Coat of arms adopted: 15 November 1960
See also:
I am a British Virgin Islander and as far as I know the shield
represents St. Ursula and the lamps of her 11,000 virgin
followers during the holy crusades in Europe. That is why
Columbus called the islands the Virgin Islands - because the many
islands reminded him of St. Ursula and her followers.
Shaina Smith, 7 March 1998
The figure on the badge is St Ursula, a legendary British
princess. She is holding one lamp and the other eleven lamps
represent the 11,000 virgins who were martyred with her. It is
said, probably apocryphally, and certainly scurrilously, that the
flag should not be hung vertically.
David Prothero, 23 June 1998
Looking at World Flag
Databse by Graham Bartram and if I understood it
right, now after the decisions made to make badegs larger and
disbaning the white disk entirely, there is a thin white
fimbriation to be made around the coat of arms on BVI flag. Is that so? The
badge is now somewhat larger, also.
Was there ever used flag with white disk? Possibly, since this
flag is so young there was none. But, maybe unofficially, before
1960?
We also have adoption date of 15 November 1960, but on United Kingdom - Colonial Flags it is
said that it was adopted (red and blue) in 1956 by Government
handout. Can someone elaborate?
Željko Heimer, 10 September 2000
I don't know for sure. But the large-sized coat of arms on the fly of a
British ensign are a fairly new phenomenon and hence there
should be two ensigns: The new one, with a large badge; and the
old one, with the badge inscribed on a circle with a diameter of
4/9ths of the flag's height.
Antonio Martins, 13 September 2000
As the designer of the new versions I can confirm that the
white fimbration is deliberate. There is no specified width - it
is just there to strengthen the outline of darker arms on the
dark blue background. It basically replaces the old white discs.
In practice this would either be a small white margin left around
a printed badge when it is appliqued onto the flag or, if the
arms themselves are appliquéd or embroidered, it could be an
extra white embroidered line around the whole arms.
Graham Bartram, 14 September 2000
From www.bvi.gov.vg:
"History of the Flag
The National Flag is the Union Flag being a composite
design of St. George’s Cross (England), St. Andrew’s
Cross (Scotland) and St. Patrick’s Cross (Ireland). The
colours are red, white and blue. The National Flag of the BVI is
the Blue Ensign defaced with the Badge of the Territory on its
fly, however, the Governor is allowed discretion to authorize its
use in the following circumstances:
i. for decorative purposes
ii. for distinguishing purposes inside or outside the
Territory on occasions when the use of the Union Flag would be
inappropriate or likely to cause confusion.
Authority to fly this flag is limited to the time and locality of
the event for which approval is sought.
The Badge of the British Virgin Islands
comprises a green shield charged with twelve golden oil lamps
with red flames and a female figure, St. Ursula, patron saint of
the British Virgin Islands attired in white and wearing sandals,
carrying one of those lamps.
History
It is said that when Columbus discovered the British Virgin
Islands in 1493, he named them “Las Virgenes” in honour
of St. Ursula and her companions. The eleven lamps which surround
the figure of St. Ursula each represent 1,000 of the 11,000
Virgins who, according to the legend, were martyred along with
St. Ursula. The figure of St. Ursula and the lamps are surrounded
by a garland of two green branches.
The present flag was adopted in 1956 and the devices incorporated
in the badge were those which had previously been used in the
Public Seal. The badge is set against the background of the Union
Jack, which is the flag of the United Kingdom.
The personal distinguishing flag of the Governor of the British
Virgin Islands is the Union Jack with the Badge of the Territory
on a white circular background in the center. Normally it is for
use only at Government House when His Excellency is in residence
in the British Virgin Islands or when staying elsewhere in the
Territory and on the bonnet of the motor car in which His
Excellency is traveling on official business. The Blue Ensign
defaced with the Badge of the territory shall only be worn at the
stern of vessels which belong to or are in the service of the
Government."
Gvido Pētersons, 7 May 2003
A motto was added to the shield, which came from the Leeward
Island arms of 10 April 1909, and granted as arms 15 November
1960. Between 1956 and 1960 some flags may have been produced
with the shield but no motto.
David Prothero, 7 February 2004
The British Virgin Islands are a small group of islands
located where the eastern Caribbean merges into the western
Atlantic. Part of this group, which was originally colonized by
Spain and which then eventually became a Danish possession, was
sold to the US in 1917; the US Government was terrified that
Denmark would be invaded by Germany (as actually did happen in
1940), thus giving that country a naval base within striking
distance of the US. The other half of the Virgin Islands, which
Britain acquired after the Congress of Vienna in 1815, are today
the British Virgin Islands. They are unique in that they are
possibly the only political entity in the world in which the
currency of another country is legal tender; the US dollar is the
basic currency circulating in the country.
Ron Lahav, 28 July 2005
The official name of the Territory is simply "Virgin Islands" and that has been its official name for centuries. Clearly, it is appropriate for "(UK)" to appear after the Territory’s name because it is indeed a British Overseas Territory. In regard to the foregoing I would draw to your attention to:
ISO 3166-1 lists the Territory in question as "Virgin Islands, British" - which is consistent with the Territory’s official name. The Virgin Islands Constitution Order 2007 attributes the name "Virgin Islands" to the Territory, confirming that this is indeed its lawful
name. You can view a copy of the Constitution at
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2007/1678/pdfs/uksi_20071678_en.pdf. The government of the Territory officially styles itself as the "Government of the Virgin Islands" - In this regard, you can view, for example, the website of the Premier (and Finance Minister) of the Virgin Islands at
http://www.finance.gov.vg/ It's up to you to decide whether or not to pay any attention to this information. It is not even just official. The name "British" Virgin Islands is not as popular as you would think. See for example, the BVI Beacon or Virgin Islands News Online....where you will find the local media generally refer to the territory as the "Virgin Islands".
The name of the former "Danish West Indies" (as it was officially named until 1917 when the Americans bought it) is the "Virgin Islands of the United States". The British territory is the "Virgin Islands."
Victor Charles, 26 November 2012
image by Željko Heimer and Phil Nelson, 22
July 2000
Graham Bartram (1996) notes that the badge is rotated
so it remains upright, but no mention of rotating the canton
(should it be?).
Phil Nelson, 22 July 2000
British Virgin Islands simply turns their flag 90 degrees to
the right. Union flag is on the right with St Andrews Cross in
the uppermost position - this follows the GB Union flag.
Joe Bollen, 24 July 2000
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 British Virgin Islands: PMS 281 blue, 032 red, 363 green, 109 yellow, 468
brown and black. The vertical version has the Union Jack
top left, with the narrow red stripe on the upper left. The shield is the right
way up towards the bottom of the flag in the horizontal centre.
Ian Sumner, 10 October 2012
The Flag Manual - Beijing 2008 gives PMS 102 (yellow), PMS 032 (red), PMS 468
(tan), PMS 281 (blue), PMS 355 (green), and PMS Black.
The French Navy
Books illustrate the flags, but there is no any color reference.
Vexilla Mundi gives
standard British colors in Pantone system: PMS 281C (blue), PMS 186C (red), and
PMS White.
Wikipedia illustrate
the flags, but doesn’t give any color reference.
Zoltan Horvath, 24
April 2024
"Virgin Islands Search and Rescue (VISAR) is a voluntary
organisation dedicated to saving life at sea. It is the
officially recognised search and rescue service in the British
Virgin Islands, where it provides 24-hour cover every day of the
year in close co-operation with the Royal British Virgin Islands
police, fire and ambulance services."
:Source: www.visar.org
In the site is shown the flag
of VISAR, red with emblem on it. However, one of the boats on
the top banner has a white version of the flag. It might be
possible that VISAR uses two versions of the flag, or maybe one
is obsolete.
Valentin Poposki, 24 March 2007
