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Barbados

Republic of Barbados

• Flags

• Historical Flags

• Meaning/Origin of the Flag

• Coat of Arms

• Meaning/Origin of the Coat of Arms

• Aircraft Roundel

• Map

• Numbers and Facts

• History

• Origin of the Country's Name

Flags

Flagge Fahne flag National flag Barbados

National, state and merchant flag,
ratio = 2:3,
Source, by: Wikipedia (EN), Corel Draw 4

Flagge Fahne flag Naval flag naval flag ensign Barbados

Naval flag,
ratio = 1:2,
Source, by: Wikipedia (EN)

Flagge Fahne flag Präsident President Barbados

since 2021,
Flag of the President,
ratio = 1:2,
Source: BaronJaguar, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Historical Flags

Flagge Fahne flag Commonwealth von England Schottland und Irland of England Scotland and Ireland

1652–1660,
Flag of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland,
Source, by: Die Welt der Flaggen

Flagge Fahne flag Großbritannien Great Britain United Kingdom Vereinigtes Königreich

1660–1801,
Flag of the United Kingdom,
ratio = 1:2,
Source, by: Die Welt der Flaggen

1801–1885,
Flag of the United Kingdom,
ratio = 1:2,
Source, by: Die Welt der Flaggen

Flagge Fahne flag Barbados Regierung State flag government state flag

1885–1966,
Flag of the government (state flag),
ratio = 1:2,
Source, by: Sodacan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Flagge Fahne flag Westindische Föderation Federation of the West Indies

1958–1962,
Flag of the Federation of the West Indies,
ratio = 1:2,
Source, by: Flags of the World

Flagge Fahne flag royal Königin Wikipedia (EN) Queen Barbados
1975–2001,
Flag of the Queen,
ratio = 1:2,
Source, by: Wikipedia (EN), Flags of all Nations, Flags of the World

Flagge Fahne flag royal Generalgouverneur Governor General Barbados
1966–2001,
Flag of the Governor General,
ratio = 1:2,
Source, by: Wikipedia (EN)

Meaning/Origin of the Flag

Today's flag of Barbados was hoisted officially on the 30th of November 1966. It was designed by G.W. Prescod, and shows three vertical stripes, blue (2), yellow (1), as well as one black trident in the centre. The blue stripes symbolize the ocean and the heaven, the yellow stripe the sand beaches. The three jags of the trident stand for the three principles of government: Of the people, by the people, for the people. The base/root of the trident was left out purposefully expressing, that Barbados has outgrown her colonial heritage, however, it stands for the close bonding of the population to the sea.

To 1885 Barbados belonged to the British Windward Islands Colony and became then a self-contained colony. The state flag was in that times a so called "Blue Ensign", a dark blue flag with a flag depiction – the British Union Jack – in the upper left staff quadrant. The Union Jack pointed out to the connections to the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom introduced a flag system in 1864 in which:

• war ships fly the "White Ensign" (naval flag), a white flag often with an uninterrupted red St. George's-Cross and with the Union Jack in the upper staff quadrant of the flag,
• merchant ships fly a "Red Ensign" (also named "Civil Ensign" => civil flag, the real merchant flag), a red flag with the Union Jack in the upper staff quadrant of the flag, and
• governmental ships fly the "Blue Ensign" (flag for the use by the gouvernment => the actual state flag), a blue flag with the Union Jack in the upper staff quadrant of the flag.

Since 1865 ships of colonial governments were permitted to fly the Blue Ensign with a badge in the flying end of the flag. The respective governments were asked to design appropriate badges. Merchant ships and seafaring persons from colonies were only permitted to use the Red Ensign with a badge, then also named Civil Ensign, if permission has been given to the respective colony by the British admiralty.

Such a badge was often a regional landscape representation placed on a disk, often showing ships, historical events or even a kind of a logo. Very often, a badge also showed the name of the country or a motto. Some British possessions, however, already had a coat of arms from the beginning, or their badge was replaced by a coat of arms over the years. To ensure a uniform appearance in the flying end of the flags, coats of arms and other symbols were displayed on a white disk in the size of the earlier badges. There were also exceptions, because some colonies did not use the white disk and placed their escutcheon or even coat of arms directly on the bunting, sometimes enlarged. Already in the '40s they started to remove the white disk and placed the coat of arms directly or enlarged. This conversion process was done gradually, nowhere at the same time and completely. In some British possessions, flags with the white disc are still in use, in others no more and in some areas are both variants in use, next to each other.

Barbados used the official blue British flag, the Blue Ensign, with a Badge in the flying end of the flag between 1885 and 1966. The Badge showed on a white disk Britannia riding on two sea horses clasping a trident in the right hand. The top of the trident appears today in the middle stripe of the today's flag. Barbados is still based on the British Ensign system. This points to the connections to the United Kingdom, because the naval flag is a White Ensign, a white flag with a to the edges reaching red St. George's Cross and the national flag in the upper corner.

Source: Die Welt der Flaggen, Flaggen und Wappen der Welt, Flaggen Wappen Hymnen, Flaggen und Wappen, Translator of the English text (partial): Joachim Nuthack

Coat of Arms

Coat of arms of Barbados,
Source: Flaggen und Wappen, Corel Draw 4

Meaning/Origin of the Coat of Arms

The coat of arms of Barbados was awarded by the British Queen Elisabeth II on the 21st of December 1966, and replaced the badge. It shows in a golden shield an uprooted "bearded fig tree". The name of the island is derived from this tree. The Spanish word barbados means bearded. In the upper sections of the blazon are two red orchids. This species of orchids has the name "Red Pride of Barbados", and is the national plant. The shield carries a helmet with yellow-red blankets. From there an arm of a native reaches out. Its hand holds two sugarcane stems. Shield holders are a dolphin and a pelican. They stand for the fishing and the fauna of the island. Underneath a golden banner with the motto of the land: "Pride and Industry".

Source: Die Welt der Flaggen, Flaggen und Wappen der Welt, Flaggen Wappen Hymnen, Flaggen und Wappen

Aircraft Roundel

since 1981,
Aircraft Roundel,
Source, by: Wikipedia (EN)

Map

Location:

Source: CIA World Factbook

Map of the country:

Source: CIA World Factbook

Numbers and Facts

Area: 166 square miles

Inhabitants: 278.000 (2010), thereof 92% of African descent, 3% Mulattos, 3% Europeans

Religions: 66% Protestant, 4% Roman Catholic, 5% other Christian

Density of Population: 1.674 inh./sq.mi.

Capital: Bridgetown, 110.000 inh. (2014)

official Language: English

Currency: 1 Barbados-Dollar (BBD, B$, BDS$) = 100 Cents

Time Zone: GMT – 4 h

Source: Wikipedia (D), CIA World Factbook

History

1519 · discovered by Spain, named "Isla de los Barbados"

1536 · re-discovery and appropriation by the Portuguese seafarer Pedro a Campos, he names the island "Ilha Barbudos"

1626 · appropriation by England

1627 · initial english colonization

1663 · english crown colony

1834–1885 · part of the British Colony of the Windward Islands

1958–1962 · part of the British Colony of the "Federation of the West Indies"

1961 · internal self government

30th of November 1966 · the United Kingdom grants independence

September 2020 · the government announces the end of the monarchy and the transformation of the state into a republic for November 2021

1st of December in 2021 · the British Queen is deposed as head of state and the constitutional monarchy ends, the Governor General of Barbados becomes President of the Republic of Barbados after her election on 20th of October in 2021, the country remains in the Commonwealth of Nations

Source: Wikipedia (D), Wikipedia (EN), World Statesmen

Origin of the Country's Name

The name "Barbados" means translated "bearded". Obviously, the Spaniards, when they gave the island its name, had been inspired by the fig trees that grow here with aerial roots.

Source: Handbuch der geographischen Namen