Flag of Jamaica

Flag of Jamaica
Vexillological symbol :	?
Aspect ratio:	1: 2
Officially accepted:	August 6, 1962

The flag of Jamaica was officially introduced on August 6, 1962.

Appearance and meaning

Shericka Williams wrapped herself in a Jamaican national flag after winning the World Cup silver medal in the 400 meter run in Berlin in 2009.

The flag of Jamaica consists of a yellow St. Andrew's cross and four triangular colored areas in black and green

Since 1996 the colors have been interpreted as follows:

• Green stands for hope in the future and agricultural wealth
• Gold the sunlight and the natural wealth of the land
• Black symbolizes the strength and creativity of the Jamaican people

The original meaning of the colors defined in 1962 was:

• Green stands for hope and agriculture
• Gold (usually shown as yellow) symbolizes Jamaica's rich natural resources and the beauty of sunlight
• Black recalls the difficult days of the past and the present (poverty).

history

Different versions of a Blue Ensign were used during British colonial rule between 1875 and 1962 . The Union Jack with the emblem of the colony served as the governor's flag.

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  ^? 1875-1906

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  ^? Governor's Flag, 1875–1906

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  ^? 1906-1957

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  ^? Governor's Flag, 1906–1957

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  ^? 1957-1962

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  ^? Governor's flag, 1957–1962

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  ^? 1962

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  ^? Governor's flag, 1962

A first proposal for the national flag of independent Jamaica consisted of five horizontal stripes (green-yellow-black-yellow-green) with the black stripe twice as wide as the other stripes. Although the British authorities approved this design, it was abandoned because the flag of Tanganyika , which had become independent in 1961, also consisted of five horizontal stripes in the same color sequence. The only difference was the width of each strip. The green and black stripes were the same width on the African flag and the two yellow stripes were significantly narrower. At times a horizontal tricolor for Jamaica was also under discussion.

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  ^? Draft for a national flag of Jamaica, 1962

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  ^? Draft for a national flag of Jamaica, 1962

More flags of Jamaica

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  ^? Sea War Flag ( White Ensign ) of the JDF Coast Guard

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  Standard of Queen Elizabeth II in Jamaica

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  Flag of the Governor General

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  Flag of the JDF Air Wing

Others

The term Jamaica Coalition was coined in Germany, alluding to the color scheme (green, yellow, black) ; this would consist of the parties of the Greens , the FDP (yellow) and the Union (black) and first became popular in the 2005 Bundestag election .

literature

• W. Smith, O. Neubecker: The signs of the people and peoples: Our world in flags and flags .
  Reich Verlag Luzern, 1975, ISBN 978-3-7243-0115-8

Web links

Commons : Flags of Jamaica  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Flags of the World - Jamaica (English)