Flag of Barbados

Flag of Barbados
The flag of Barbados was designed by Grantley W. Prescod and was officially adopted to represent the nation of Barbados at midnight on 30 November 1966, the day the country gained independence. The flag was chosen as part of a nationwide open contest held by the government, with Prescod's design being selected as the winner of a field of over one thousand entries. The flag is a triband design, with the outermost stripes coloured ultramarine, to represent the sea and the sky, and the middle stripe coloured gold, to represent the sand. Within the middle band is displayed the head of a trident. This trident is meant to represent the trident of Poseidon, visible in Barbados's colonial coat of arms, and the fact that it is broken is meant to represent the severed ties between Barbados and the United Kingdom, of which it was long a colony.

After Prescod's design was selected as the winner of the contest, he was asked to make several flags as a personal request from Errol Barrow, the nation's first prime minister. Prescod constructed seven flags out of fabrics purchased from a department store. The flag was raised for the first time in a ceremony by Lieutenant Hartley Dottin of the Barbados Regiment. From its independence in 1966, Barbados also had a royal standard for Queen Elizabeth II and a standard for the governor-general, though these flags were retired in 2021 after Barbados officially became a republic. In their place, the use of a presidential standard began in 2021.

After some time as a British colony, Barbados became part of the British Windward Islands in 1833, with the Union Jack as its official flag. It was reestablished as the colony of Barbados in 1885 and remained that way until 1958; during this time, the flag of the colony consisted of a Blue Ensign which was defaced with the colonial seal. From 1958 to 1962, Barbados was under the control of the West Indies Federation, who used the so-called "Sun and Seas Flag", consisting of a circular orange "sun" atop a blue field with four wavy white lines. After control was retaken by the United Kingdom from 1962 to 1966, following the dissolution of the West Indies Federation, the Barbadian legislature made their case for independence. Barbados became an independent nation on 30 November 1966. At midnight on that day, the modern-day flag came into effect as the first official flag of an independent Barbados and was raised for the first time in a ceremony by Lieutenant Hartley Dottin, a member of the Barbados Regiment.

The design of the flag was created by Grantley W. Prescod, an art teacher, and was chosen as the winner of an open competition arranged by the Barbados government and judged by seven individuals. Over one thousand entries were received, with the exact number being 1,029. He was awarded a $500 cash prize, which was donated to a popular newspaper publishing company, a scroll from the Barbadian government, and a gold medal. In addition to designing the flag, Prescod also constructed the first physical flag, at the request of Prime Minister Errol Barrow. After choosing fabrics of the right colors at a department store, Prescod made "approximately seven flags".

National flag
Flag of Barbados
Country - Barbados

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Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of 432 km2 and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). Its capital and largest city is Bridgetown.

Inhabited by Kalinago people since the 13th century, and prior to that by other Amerindians, Spanish navigators took possession of Barbados in the late 15th century, claiming it for the Crown of Castile. It first appeared on a Spanish map in 1511. The Portuguese Empire claimed the island between 1532 and 1536, but abandoned it in 1620 with their only remnants being an introduction of wild boars for a good supply of meat whenever the island was visited. An English ship, the Olive Blossom, arrived in Barbados on 14 May 1625; its men took possession of the island in the name of King James I. In 1627, the first permanent settlers arrived from England, and Barbados became an English and later British colony. During this period, the colony operated on a plantation economy, relying on the labour of African slaves who worked on the island's plantations. Slavery continued until it was phased out through most of the British Empire by the Slavery Abolition Act 1833.