Saint Vincent And The Grenadines

The flag of Saint Vincent And The Grenadines is a vertical tricolour of blue, yellow (double width) and green, with three green diamonds at the centre of the flag in the shape of a 'V'. The flag is sometimes referred to as 'The Gems'.

The basic design and colours of the flag of Saint Vincent And The Grenadines derives from a flag hoisted on the day of independence from Britain in 1979. This flag comprised blue, yellow and green stripes and had the national arms placed on a breadfruit leaf at its centre (breadfruit trees were introduced by Britain into the Caribbean). However, this flag did not gain widespread approval. A competition for a new flag was launched in 1985; however, it failed to produce a satisfactory result. Swiss graphic artist Julien van der Wal was subsequently called in to create a new flag which led to the adoption of the flag in its current form on 12 October 1985. The official explanation of the current flag design is that the colour blue stands for the sky, yellow for sunshine and green for vegetation, whilst the diamonds at the flag's centre are in the shape of 'V' for 'Vincent' and represent the country's nickname - 'the Gems of the Antilles'.

The flag's ratio is 2:3.