During the island's very eventful history, its owners changed often, and with it the flags used here. United Kingdom last secured ownership of the island in 1803, so that from that year the flag of United Kingdom flew unchallenged over the island, which administratively belonged to the British colony of the Windward Islands between 1838 and 1889. The Windward Islands were part of the United Kingdom and had their own administration and governor. On land, and until 1864 also at sea, the individual citizen and also the authorities represented their status as citizens or organs of the United Kingdom by the use of the Union Jack, called 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.
Since 1865, colonial government ships were permitted to use a Blue Ensign with a badge in the flying end. From this point on, only the British Union Jack was to be used for all other purposes on land and the usual red British merchant flag, the "Red Ensign", at sea. If the British Admiralty had granted the appropriate permission to one colony, merchant ships and private sailors from this colony were allowed to use a Red Ensign with the Bagde. This was not the case for Tobago or the Windward Islands. The respective governments should provide appropriate bagdes.
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.
The Windward Islands received their own badge in 1886. It featured a fourfold shield with the colors red, yellow, green and white, surrounded by a white belt with the inscription "Governor in Chief, Windward Islands", above which was the British crown. Below there is a white banner with the islands' motto: "i pede fausto" → "Walk with a blessed foot". However, the individual colonies of the Windward Islands had their own "Blue Ensigns" with their own badge; only the governor used the badge on his flag. A "Blue Ensign" for the Windward Islands may still have existed.
From 1877, the government of Tobago, as a British colony, used the blue British official flag (Blue Ensign) with a badge in the waving part of the flag. The badge, introduced in 1877, showed a mountainous coastal landscape with a town and fields; four ships (three of them in the background) with reefed sails in coastal waters in the roadstead. There is a palm tree in the foreground. The lower part of the disc shows the island's motto on white surface: "Pulchrior evenit" → "It becomes more and more beautiful". The badge was probably changed in 1880, it now showed the landscape without a town but with a rising sun, just a sailing ship in full sail on the coast and the palm tree in the foreground and the motto again at the bottom. In 1889 – the year in which Tobago was placed under the administration of Trinidad – a new badge was introduced again. It now showed the landscape without a town but again with a rising sun, in the coastal waters four ships (three of them in the background) in coastal waters in the roadstead with reefed sails. The palm tree appears again in the foreground and the motto again at the bottom. The badge appeares in the flag of the House of Assembly since 1980.
The badge, introduced in 1877, showed a mountainous coastal landscape with a village and fields; four ships (three of them in the background) with reefed sails in coastal waters in the roadstead. There is a palm tree in the foreground. The lower part of the disc shows the island's motto on white surface: "Pulchrior evenit" → "It becomes more and more beautiful". The badge was probably changed in 1880, it now showed the landscape without a town but with a rising sun, just a sailing ship in full sail on the coast and the palm tree in the foreground and the motto again at the bottom. In 1889 – the year in which Tobago was placed under the administration of Trinidad – a new badge was introduced again. It now showed the landscape without a village but again with a rising sun, in the coastal waters four ships (three of them in the background) in coastal waters in the roadstead with reefed sails. The palm tree appears again in the foreground and the motto again at the bottom. The badge appeares in the flag of the House of Assembly since 1980.
4th of August in 1498 · the island is probably discovered by Columbus and he took possession for Spain, Columbus names it "Bella Forma", according to other sources "Isla de la Asunción"
1502 · the Spanish sailors Alonzo de Ojeda and Juan de la Cosa visit the island and name it "Isla La Magdalena", then the island is called "Tavaco", later "Tabagua" and finally "Tobago", there is no continuous Spanish settlement and colonization
1628–1636 · Dutch colony "Nieuw Walcheren", operated by the Dutch West India Company
1654–1659 · the Duchy of Courland operates the colony "Neu Kurland" in the northwest of the island
1680–1693 · the Duchy of Courland again operates the colony "New Courland"
1748 · Tobago is declared a neutral territory
1763 · United Kingdom acquires Tobago with the Treaty of Paris
1764–1781 · Tobago is a British colony
1781–1793 · Tobago is a French colony
1793 · United Kingdom occupies Tobago
1802–1803 · Tobago is a French colony
1803 · Tobago becomes a British crown colony
1833–1889 · Tobago is part of the British colony of the Windward Islands
1st of January in 1889 · Tobago is placed under the administration of Trinidad
1st of January in 1899 · Tobago is united with Trinidad to form the colony of Trindad and Tobago
1959 · the island of Tobago receives its own administrative department, from 1964 a ministry, and from 1977 has an independent part of the central administration
31st of August 1962 · United Kingdom grants Trindad and Tobago independence in the framework of the Commonwealth of Nations, the country becomes a constitutional monarchy under the British monarch as chief of state
1980 · the island of Tobago gains autonomy, formation of the Tobago House of Assembly
Tobago was discovered by the Spanish seafarer Christoph Columbus in the year 1498. He named it "Bella Forma" (the Wellshaped), by other sources "Isla de la Asunción" (Ascension Island). Only some years later it was named "Isla La Magdalena" (Magdalena Island). Later the island had many names, according to its respective owner. So even "Nieuw Walcheren" or "Neukurland". The French and the British called it "Tobago". This name has its roots in the word Tobacco. Otensibly even that island's name has its roots in Columbus, because he watched that the Cariben smoking Tobacco-Leafs in a Tambaku, and he used this name for the island.
