Last modified: 2020-07-04 by rob raeside
Keywords: belize | british honduras |
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(2:3) image by Zoltan Horvath, 28 March 2014
Official Name: Belize
Previous name: British Honduras
Location: Central America
Government Type: Constitutional Monarchy (Queen Elizabeth II)
Flag adopted: 21 September 1981
Coat of Arms adopted: 21 September 1981
ISO Code: BZ
The white disk in the center has 50 olive leaves along its inner periphery. This represents the year 1950, when British Honduras (Belize's former name) began its quest for independence from the UK. When Belize became independent in 1981, the two red stripes were added to the previous flag.
In the center of the white disk there is a coat of arms divided in three sections. The left field holds an oar and a sledgehammer, the right one contains a saw and an ax, and the bottom one has a sailing ship. If one looks at the ship closely, one sees a red flag flying which might be a British Red Ensign.
Above the coat of arms, there is a tree, and below the coat of arms, one can see Belize's motto "Sub umbra floreo" -- I flourish in the shadow (referring to the dependence from the UK). There is a mulatto man holding an ax to the left of the coat of arms. On the right side, a black man holds an oar.
The coat of arms seems to have been slightly modified compared
to the arms in the 'pre-independence' flag
(without stripes) shown in W. Smith's book. Note the change of
darkness of the green, and the substitution of the orange with
yellow for the right section of the coat of arms. Also, the saw
went from a blade saw to a bow saw. On the old flag, the men
stand on the motto, whereas on the new one, they are on the
ground, and the motto is smaller.
eljko Heimer, 17 February 1996
According to 'Pavillons nationaux et marques distinctives' [pay00] - National Flag (CSW/CSW 2:3)
- The details of the coat of arms, as it is tradition of British (and not
only British) heraldry are allowed to vary to the artistic
representation as long as they follow the blazon, and therefore
differences shown in each picture of this flag are
understandable, I guess. This is also one of those former British
colonies that did not adopt the British custom of different
ensigns for different use on sea (and land) and all functions are
covered with a flag of single design. This may be influence of
the big USA relatively near (and influential), but on the other
hand, Central American states in the vicinity all know about
different ensigns for various purposes.
Do we know anything about details of this flag? - The stripes seem to be 1/10 of the flag hoist and the disk is like 6/10. Is that defined somewhere?
The [smi80] also who the triangular flag of the Minister President - would there be a matching flag in use today?
eljko Heimer, 4 March 2001
A Flag Day Presentation to detail the new standardization of the flag was
held on Wednesday, August 28, 2019 by the National Celebrations Commission
(NCC). There, Nigel Encalada, Director of the Institute for Social and Cultural
Research, gave those details. According to Encalada, it has been an ongoing
process which has used the knowledge and skills of the NCC, National Institute
of Culture and History (NICH), and other personnel to research at the archives
and libraries on a national level. Their research even got them as far as London
The modern flag that we are now familiar with was first hoisted in 1981, the year of our independence. It was designed by two public officers at the time, Everal Waight, Public Secretary, and Inez Sanchez, Chief Education Officer after a plea was made to make the initial flag a more unifying symbol. Prior to our independence, the People’s United Party (PUP) proposed a blue flag with the Coat of Arms in a white circle. Because of the close association of the flag with the PUP, public opinion was divided as to its suitability to act as a unifying symbol. The United Democratic Party (UDP) did not propose a flag, but called for a flag that could rally all citizens, regardless of their political affiliation. As a consequence, the government of the time appointed a bi-partisan National Symbols Committee that launched a competition and invited citizens to submit designs for a National Flag. It is the Waight-Sanchez design, called the “Flag of Unity” that fulfilled that criteria and was selected.
It is with reference to that flag that the new flag, 2019’s, was updated and now standardized. Encalada says that the NCC proposed a paper to Cabinet asking permission to standardize the flag, its color scheme, protocol, and to develop a statutory instrument (SI), which will be drafted by the Office of the Attorney General. Before they were given the go-ahead, they were asked to consult with the Leader of the Opposition and to ensure that the new flag reflects the 1981 flag’s color scheme.
Adhering to those conditions, the team was underway. At a glance, the new flag looks exactly the same as the 1981 version, but as Encalada explains, there were subtle changes made. For example, the two men which stand on either side of the coat of arms and are surrounded by the wreath have been drawn to be more anatomically accurate. The men on the previous version were drawn in a “caricature style”. The men now also have realistic skin tones which, like all other colors on the flag, now have particular codes, which printers can refer to to achieve a true-color flag.
Although this new standard of the flag is not yet law, there are strides being made in that direction, but Encalada says that distributors and holders of the current versions of the flag are being given a six-month period to sell those flags.
The mayor or mayor representative from each municipality were each at the presentation and were given a new standard flag, presented to them by Chair of the NCC and Deputy Prime Minister, Hon. Patrick Faber. Encalada encouraged each mayor and mayor representative to integrate the new flag into their municipality and to educate their city or town people on the updates made on the flag.
September 1 is nationally regarded as National Flag Day in Belize and the person who is responsible for the inception of this day, Captain Nicolas Sanchez, who currently lives in Canada, was honored at the presentation. He was the first person to, of his own will and monies, purchase around twenty flags and hoisted them by himself at the flag monument on Freetown Road. It was after some time that he was joined by the Belize Boy Scouts in his efforts."
Guardian, 30 August 2019
Ivan Sache, 5 April 2020
The protocol manual for the
London 2012 Olympics
(Flags and Anthems Manual
London 2012 [loc12]) provides recommendations
for national flag designs. Each
was sent an image of the flag, including the
PMS shades, for their approval by LOCOG. Once this was obtained, LOCOG produced
a 60 x 90 cm version of the flag for further approval. So, while these specs may
not be the official, government, version of each flag, they are certainly what
believed the flag to be.
For Belize: PMS 032 red, 285 blue, 293 blue, 355 green, 139 brown, 102 yellow, 468 brown and black. The vertical version is simply the flag turned through 90 degrees clockwise.
Ian Sumner, 10 October 2012
The blue flag with a white disk (without the stripes) was adopted on February 2, 1950, as British Honduras started its journey toward independence. The two red stripes were added on September 21, 1981, when Belize officially became independent from the UK. Surprisingly, the motto (Sub umbra floreo) was not changed in 1981, even after independence from the UK.
The coat of arms shown on the flag was given to British
Honduras on January 28, 1907. It has remained mainly unchanged
ever since, except for some minor changes which were discussed
eljko Heimer, 17 Febuary 1996
From the Belize
"The National Flag
The red, white and blue flag of Belize is a symbol of the unity of our nation. Prior to Independence the People's United Party (PUP) proposed a blue flag with the Coat of Arms in a white circle. Because of the close association of the flag with the PUP, public opinion was divided as to its suitability to act as a unifying symbol. The United Democratic Party (UDP) did not propose a flag, but called for a flag that could rally all citizens, regardless of their political affiliation. As a consequence, the bi-partisan National Symbols Committee invited citizens to submit designs for a National Flag.
The design selected by the Committee is a royal blue flag with one horizontal red stripe at the top, one at the bottom, and a white circle with the Coat of Arms in the centre."
Jarig Bakker, 16 November 1999
image by Zoltan Horvath, 28 March 2014
There is a ship in dock in Bristol at the moment registered in
Belize. She is flying a UK Red Ensign as a courtesy flag but its
own ensign is simply a blue field with red stripes top and bottom
- no white disc with Belize coat of arms.
I haven't read of this elsewhere as a simplified flag or ensign for Belize and I wonder whether it has previously been reported. I can understand the desire to simplify the complex design (for cost reasons if nothing else), but this didn't even have the white disc (though if it had, that would have made it rather Laotian).
Andre Coutanche, 27 June 2001
Nothing of the sort in Album 2000 [pay00]
, nor anywhere else as far as I know. However, Smith reports in
his 1980 book the tendency of simplification. Of course, at that
time there were no red stripes on the flag present, and the
simplification observed was blue flag with white disk. If I am
not much mistaken, many vexillologist would expect something of
the sort - though, as much as you are surprised, my guess is that
they would be also - to simplify it some much as to remove even
the disk might seem overmuch. I wouldn't know if the same was
reported before, but it may well happen that this is more rule
then the exception. We must wait and see some more examples,
however, before concluding anything - after all it may be that
the ship's flagman was simply mistaken ...
eljko Heimer, 28 June 2001
A colleague of mine looked at your web site and noticed you
had posted an enquiry about the Belize registered ship MV Lucie
in Bristol dock. Lucie was chartered by the Bristol Old Vic to
take part in a theatrical performance "Up the Feeder, Down
the Mouth and Back Again" on which I happened to be
working. After looking at the web site I was intrigued too
and decided to ask the Captain about the flag. Apparently it is
the Belize maritime flag. It prompted the Captain to point out a
chart on the bridge which displayed national maritime flags and
sure enough the simplified blue and red ensign was there. I hope
this is of use to you and it was great reading about our ship on
Jo Cuthbert, 11 July 2001
Belize does not use a "simplified" version (i.e., a version without the arms)
of its flag as a civil ensign. Rather, the Belize national flag bearing the full
arms serves that purpose.
The controlling law is the Merchant Ships (Registration) Act, 2010, No. 22 of 2010. Part III, section 28 thereof says:
28. (1) The national colour of a Belizean ship shall be the national flag of Belize and such ship shall wear no other flag.
The website for the Ship Registry of Belize shows the national flag, also.
James T. Liston, 28 March 2014
I haven't seen any conflict here, because previous reports about Belize
Ensign were posted before 2010.
I think, this is a quite new regulation about Merchant Ships, but I would know more about an earlier law or regulation of Belizean ensign (if any).
This recent report does not mean non-existence of this ensign in the past, and even some observers reported this ensign when they saw it with their own eyes in Bristol.
Zoltan Horvath, 28 March 2014
I merely suspect it was more of one-off sighting rather than a formally
established flag. I can find no legislation or written source supporting such a
flag and have never seen one used.
The Registration of Merchant Ships Act, Chapter 236, Rev. ed. 2003, "Showing the Subsidiary Laws as at October 31, 2003" provided identically to the 2010 act, as far as the national flag is concerned:
Part VI: Name and Flag of Ship
52(1) The national color of a Belizean ship shall be the national flag of Belize and such ship shall wear no other flag.
That's stated as of October 2003... The original Belizean Ship Registration
Act dates from 1989, but I can't put my hands on a copy of it at this moment.
James T. Liston, 28 March 2014
You may right, but I'm not sure in this issue, others may capture such a flag
or get some documentation.
Zoltan Horvath, 28 March 2014
March 9th is a flag day, Baron Bliss Day in Belize (many
thanks to Alex Smith):
Baron Bliss, a wealthy Englishman, inherited the title 4th Baron of Bliss from the Kingdom of Portugal. He arrived in Belize in 1926. When told he had few weeks to live he changed his will and set up a trust fund for his wife, which, after her death, would go to the country of Belize. His estate was believed to be valued at perhaps 1,000,000 pounds sterling. If you want more details, you can go to www2.belizenet.com.
Edward Mooney, 10 March 1998