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The British Virgin Islands Flag

Summary: The British Virgin Islands flag is so much alike that of the UK flag but with the addition of the British Virgin Islands Coat Of Arms.

The British Virgin Islands comprise about 50 small Caribbean islands; around 15 are inhabited. The largest islands of the group are Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Anegada, and Jost Van Dyke. The capital and the largest town is Road Town, and it is situated in Tortola. It is said that when Christopher Columbus discovered the British Virgin Islands in 1943, he named them “Las Virgines” in honor of St. Ursula and her 11, 000 companions.

St. Ursula and the eleven virgins are in the Coat of Arms of the British Virgin Islands flag. It is colored blue, with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the Virgin Islander coat of arms (badge) centered in the outer half of the flag. The British Virgin Islands flag is like the United Kingdom flag. The coat of arms depicts a woman flanked on either side by a vertical column of six lamps above and a scroll bearing the Latin word VIGILANTE, which means “Be watchful”.

The British Virgin Islands flag and the badge were adopted in the 15th of November 1960. The badge of the British Virgin Islands comprises a green shield charged with twelve golden oil lamps with red flames and a female figure. The female figure is St. Ursula, patron saint of the British Virgin Islands attired in white and wearing sandals, carrying one of those lamps. The eleven lamps on the badge of the British Virgin Islands flag which surround the figure of St. Ursula each represent 1000 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 National Flag of the British Virgin Islands is the Blue Ensign defaced with the Badge of the Territory on its fly, nevertheless, the Governor allowed discretion to authorize its use in the following conditions: for decorative purposes, for distinguishing purposes inside or outside the Territory on occasion 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.

Civil (Red) Ensign is used but has not been authorized. This flag is exactly the same as the British Virgin Islands flag, except that instead of blue background, the color is red. There are those who use this red flag in and around the island. There are some yachts which use this red ensign. This practice has also been observed in Bermuda.

The First Governor’s Flag would not have had a gold ring underlying the garland and could still be in use. The Governor’s flag is very much alike that of the UK flag, only that the coat of arms of the British Virgin Islands is right in the center.

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