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• Meaning/Origin of the Coat of Arms
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• History
• Origin of the Country's Name
Union Flag → quasi National flag,
Flag of United Kingdom,
ratio = 1:2,
Source, by: Wikipedia (EN)
since 1999,
Flag of the government (state flag),
ratio = 1:2,
Source, by: Flags of the World
since 1999,
Merchant flag,
ratio = 1:2,
Source, by: Flags of the World
since 1999,
Flag of the Governor,
ratio = 1:2,
Source, by: Flags of the World
18th century,
Flag of France,
Source, by: commons.wikimedia.org
18th century,
Flag of Spain,
Source, by: World Statesmen, histor. Pix/Abbildungen
from 1803,
Flag of United Kingdom,
ratio = 1:2,
Source, by: Wikipedia (EN)
1864–1999,
Merchant flag,
ratio = 1:2,
Source, by: Flags of all Nations
1875–1889,
Flag of the government (state flag),
ratio = 1:2,
Source, by: Flags of the World
1889–1968,
Flag of the government (state flag),
ratio = 1:2,
Source, by: Flags of the World
1968–1999,
Flag of the government (state flag),
ratio = 1:2,
Source, by: Flags of the World
Federation of the West Indies (1958–1962):
Flag of the Federation of the West Indies,
ratio = 1:2,
Source, by: Flags of the World
Flag of the Governor General,
ratio = 1:2,
Source, by:
Flags of the World
During the turbulent history of the Turks and Caicos Islands, the ownership of the islands changed several times between Spain and France, and with it the flags used here. Also Englishmen (salt collectors from the Bermuda Islands) had settled here since the 17th century. England/United Kingdom last secured the ownership over the island in 1799, so that from that year its flag flew unchallenged over the island. On land, and until 1864 also at sea, individual citizens and the authorities represented their status as citizens or bodies of the United Kingdom by using the Union Jack, known as the Union Flag.
United Kingdom had introduced a flag system in 1864 in which:
• War ships use a so-called "White Ensign" (naval flag), a white flag often with a red St. George's cross throughout and with the Union Jack in the upper corner,
• Merchant ships use a so-called "Red Ensign" (also called "Civil Ensign" → citizen flag, the actual merchant flag), a red flag with the Union Jack in the upper corner, and
• Governmental ships use a "Blue Ensign" (flag of the government → the actual state flag), a blue flag with the Union Jack in the upper orner.
From 1865, ships of colonial governments were allowed to use a Blue Ensign with a badge in the flying end. The respective governments were to provide corresponding bagdes. For all other purposes, the British Union Jack was to be used exclusively on land and the standard red British merchant flag, the "Red Ensign", at sea. If the British Admiralty had granted the colony the appropriate authorisation, merchant ships and private seamen from these colonies were permitted to fly a Red Ensign with the bagde. This was not yet the case for the Turks and Caicos Islands. Nevertheless, a "Red Ensign" was introduced by the local authorities in 1999, pending approval from the Admiralty. The local authorities on the islands also appear to have authorised the Blue Ensign with the coat of arms at the waving end to be used on land by citizens, as a kind of replacement for the Union Jack, if you like, as a national flag. The old badge on the flag was replaced in 1968 by the shield of the coat of arms, which was introduced in 1965.
Such a badge was often a regional landscape representation placed on a disk, often showed ships, historical events or could just be a kind of logo. Very often a badge also showed the name of the country or a motto. However, some possessions had a coat of arms right from the start, or received their own coat of arms over the years and the badge was abolished. In order to ensure a largely uniform appearance in the flying end of the flags, coats of arms and other symbols were displayed on a white disk the same size as the earlier badges. But there were exceptions here, as some colonies did not use this white disk and placed their coat of arms or just the shield – sometimes enlarged – directly on the flag cloth. As early as the 1940s, the white discs were removed and the coat of arms was placed directly or enlarged. This transition process occurred gradually, never simultaneously and completely. In some British possessions flags with the white disc are still in use, in others they are no longer used and in some areas both variants exist side by side.
From 1875, the government of the Turks and Caicos Islands, as a British colony but under the administration of Jamaica, used its own British Blue Ensign with a badge in the waving part of the flag. The badge, introduced in 1875, showed a coastal scene with a beach in the foreground on which a Saltworks worker is engaged with a rake and bushels in front of two piles of salt. A salt ship can be seen in the background, taking on the precious cargo of salt, the colony's top export. The name of the colony appears in the lower part. The badge seems to have been revised in 1889, but the image depicted hardly changed and was retained until 1968, even when the islands were administratively separated from Jamaica in 1959 and became an independent colony.
At the same time, the colony was part of the British colony "West Indian Federation" from 1958 to 1962, an attempt to consolidate the administration and also to counteract the independence efforts of the associated islands and colonies. The flag of the "West Indian Federation" was a light blue flag with four horizontal white wavy lines and a golden disc in the middle. It symbolized the sun over the Caribbean Sea. There is some doubt about the color of the blue; it is often assumed to be the usual British heraldry blue. However, a contemporary description calls it an "imperial blue" which would be light blue and many contemporary prints also show this light blue.
In 1968, the badge was abolished and from that year the shield of the coat of arms – awarded in 1965 – was used on the "Blue Ensign", the governmental flag. It shows a cowrie shell, a lobster and a Turkic cactus. From 1999, the size of the shield was increased to half of the height of the flag and became surrounded by a white border.
From 1959, the Turks and Caicos Islands were an independent colony, albeit under an administrator, the Governor of Jamaica, who was also Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands from 1962. Between 1965 and 1973 there was again an administrator, the Governor of the Bahamas. When the Bahamas became independent in 1973, the Turks and Caicos Islands were given their own governor. From 1986 to 1988 and from 2009 to 2012, the islands were administered directly from London via the Governor due to legal difficulties. The governor has only had his own flag since 1999.
Source:
Flags of all Nations,
World Statesmen,
Flags of the World,
Wikipedia (EN),
Volker Preuß
since 1965,
Coat of arms of the Turks and Caicos Islands,
Source, by: Wikipedia (EN), Corel Draw 4
1875–1889,
Badge of the Turks and Caicos Islands,
Source, by: Flags of the World
1889–1968,
Badge of the Turks and Caicos Islands,
Source, by: Flags of the World
The coat of arms of Turks and Caicos Islands shows a golden escutcheon, on it a pink true conch, a lobster and a Turk cactus. Above a silvery helmet with golden blankets, on the helmet Sisal plants and a pelican, to the left and on the right per one flamingo as supporters. The coat of arms was awarded to the islands on 26th of September in 1965. In the years before was used the in 1875 introduced badge. It showed a coastal scene with a beach in the foreground on which a Saltworks worker is engaged with a rake and bushels in front of two piles of salt. A salt ship can be seen in the background, taking on the precious cargo of salt, the colony's top export. The name of the colony appears in the lower part. The badge seems to have been revised in 1889, but the image depicted hardly changed and was retained until 1968, even when the islands were administratively separated from Jamaica in 1959 and became an independent colony.
Source:
Flags of the World,
Wikipedia (EN),
Volker Preuß
Location:
Source: Freeware, University of Texas Libraries, modyfied by: Volker Preuß
Map of the country:
Source: CIA World Factbook
Area: 238 square miles
Inhabitants: 47.720 (2022), thereof 90% Blacks, 8% Europeans, 2% Mulattos
Religions: 73% Protestant, 11% Roman Catholic
Density of Population: 201 inh./sq.mi.
Capital: Cockburn Town (on Grand Turk Island), 3.720 inh. (2016)
official Language: English
other Languages: local English Creole dialect
Currency: 1 US-Dollar (USD, $) = 100 Cents
Time Zone: GMT – 5 h
Source: Wikipedia (D)
12th of October 1492 · probably discovered by the Spanish seafarer Christoph Columbus
1513 · probably discovered by the Spanish seafarer Juan Ponce de León, appropriated for Spain, no colonization
17th century · settlement by English salt collectors from Bermuda Islands
18th century · severally occupied by Spain and France
1783 · British settlement and colonization
1799 · appropriation by United Kingdom, annexion to the Bahamas Colony
1848 · separation from the Bahamas, own administration
1873 · annexion to Jamaica Colony
4th of July 1959 · separation from Jamaica, part of the Federation of the West Indies
31st of May in 1962 · dissolution of the Federation of the West Indies
6th of August in 1962 · the Turks and Caicos Islands become a British crown colony
1974 · Canada proposes the annexion of the archipelago as eleventh province of Canada
since 1979 · claims for independence, but there is no majority for that in the population
1986–1988 · direct rule by United Kingdom
2003 · Canada proposes once more the annexion of the archipelago as eleventh province of Canada
2009–2012 · direct rule by United Kingdom
Source:
Wikipedia (D),
Atlas zur Geschichte,
Discovery '97,
Handbuch der geographischen Namen
There are two theories about the origin of the islands' name. On the one hand, it is often assumed that the name "Turks" comes from the native cactus Melocactus intortus (Turk's Cap Cactus), whose cephalium sits on top of the cactus like the fez on a Turk's head. It also appears in the coat of arms of the country. On the other hand, the name Turks is associated with the piracy that used to be omnipresent here, as the islands served as retreats for pirates. The term "Turks" was supposedly used for pirates, which dates back to the time when the Ottoman Empire ruled the Mediterranean Sea and Turkish pirates interfered with European shipping, so that Pirate Islands became "Turks Islands". The name "Caicos" means "chain of islands" and is derived from the word "Cava Hico", which comes from the language of the Lucayans, the indigenous people of the Bahamas who lived on the islands until around 1520.
Source: "From Igloos to Lobster Legs". Times of the Islands. Winter 2013/14.
