Flag of the Turks and Caicos Islands
Flag of the Turks and Caicos Islands | |
Use | National flag |
---|---|
Proportion | 1:2 |
Adopted | 7 November 1968 |
Design | A blue ensign with the Union flag in the canton and the coat of arms of the Turks and Caicos Islands in the fly half. |
The current flag of the Turks and Caicos Islands was adopted on 7 November 1968, and modified in 1999. Prior to this, the islands had several different flags either proposed or utilised.[1]
Nevertheless, the
Description
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Detailed view of the shield, withCaribbean spiny lobster and Turk's cap cactus
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Caribbean spiny lobster(Panulirus argus) - seen with ten legs
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Example of a Melocactus (Turk's cap), which gives the islands half their name and appears in the coat of arms
The flag of the Turks and Caicos Islands features a
Whether the lobster on the coat of arms should have eight or ten legs has been disputed. It has been suggested that the original version of the flag showed ten legs, as would be accurate due to the decapod nature of lobsters, and that the first pair of smaller legs were hidden under the antennae and were subsequently missed in later drawings. It is thought that the lobster present on the coat of arms is a
The current flag was modified in 1999 when a white outline was added to the shield and the badge height was increased to approximately half of the hoist width.
Related flags
Civil ensign
A
Gubernatorial flag
The Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands has a separate flag (also seen below), a Union flag defaced with the coat of arms surrounded by a garland tied together with a blue ribbon. This design is similar to flags of the other Governors in British overseas territories. The current governor, since July 2019 is Nigel Dakin.
Historical flags
The previous flag used up to 1968 was also a defaced blue ensign. This flag had been in use since 1875 and had a different coat of arms to the current flag. The former coat of arms (which can be seen on the former flag below) featured a ship offshore from a beach with the name of the islands in a circle. It also showed a man working on the beach between two piles of salt. This is in reference to the salt industry which once dominated the
The corresponding gubernatorial flag was a Union flag defaced by the former coat of arms in the centre.
In 1870, an alternative to this had been proposed, which retained the Union flag but which was defaced with a white crescent and three stars against a blue background. The crescent would be emblematic of the name of the islands (Turks, referring to the flag of what was then the
List of flags
Territory flag
Flag | Date | Use | Description |
---|---|---|---|
1889-1968 | Flag of the Turks and Caicos Islands[2] | A British Blue Ensign with the Union Flag in the canton and the Island's badge in the fly | |
1968-1999 | Flag of the Turks and Caicos Islands[2] | A British Blue Ensign with the Union Flag in the canton and the Island's coat of arms in the fly | |
1999-present | Flag of the Turks and Caicos Islands[5] | A British Blue Ensign with the Union Flag in the canton and the coat of arms with a white outline in the fly
|
Governor's Flag
Flag | Date | Use | Description |
---|---|---|---|
1999-present | Flag of the Governor[6] | A Union Flag defaced with the Island's coat of arms
|
Ensigns
Flag | Date | Use | Description |
---|---|---|---|
1999-present | Civil Ensign[5] | A British Red Ensign with the Union Flag in the canton and the Island's coat of arms with a white outline in the fly |
References
- ^ "Flag of Turks and Caicos Islands - A Brief History" (PDF). Flagmakers. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
- ^ a b c d e "Turks and Caicos - Historical Flags". CRW Flags. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
- ^ "From Igloos to Lobster Legs". Times of the Islands. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
- ^ "Turks and Caicos". CRW Flags. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
- ^ a b World Flag Database Turks and Caicos
- ^ "Flag of Turks and Caicos Islands - A Brief History" (PDF). Flagmakers. Retrieved 21 September 2020.