Last Updated on September 24, 2021
The flag of US Virgin Islands was adopted on May 17, 1921. It consists of a simplified version of the coat of arms of the United States between the letters V and I (for ‘Virgin Islands’). The yellow-colored eagle holds a sprig of laurel in one talon, which symbolizes victory, and three blue arrows in the other (unlike the thirteen arrows in the US coat of arms), which represent the three major islands that make up the U.S. Virgin Islands: Saint Croix, Saint Thomas, and Saint John. When the Virgin Islands were owned by Denmark, the flag was a blue ensign with the Danish flag, or Dannebrog (‘cloth of the Danes’), in the canton.
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Brief History of the Flag of US Virgin Islands
Prior to Transfer Day 1917, the Danish colonial administration used a simple flag modeled on the blue ensign with the flag of Denmark in its canton. The Danish flag is popularly said to have fallen from the sky during a 1219 battle of the Danish king Valdemar II during the Livonian Crusade against the Estonians. The Nordic Cross on the flag represents Christianity.
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The idea of a U.S. Virgin Islands flag began with the administration of Rear Admiral Sumner Ely Wetmore Kittelle, who was sworn in as governor of the islands on April 26, 1921. He approached Mr. White, captain of the Grebe, and Percival Wilson Sparks, a cartoonist, and asked them for suggestions for a flag design. Sparks immediately drew a design on paper. Afterward, Sparks transferred it on heavy cotton material, then asked his wife Grace and her sister Blanche Joseph to embroider the design. The later result was what became the United States Virgin Islands flag.
Meaning Behind the Colours of the Flag of US Virgin Islands
The USVI flag is based on the coat of arms of the United States of America. It has a solid white field with an eagle placed between the letters “V” and “I.” The eagle is depicted in gold and grasps a set of three arrows in one talon and an olive branch in the other. A shield with a blue stripe running across the top and alternating stripes of red and white stretching down from the blue stripe is placed over the eagle’s chest.
The eagle represents the United States of America. The olive branch that it holds is a symbol of peace, while the three arrows in the eagle’s other talon stand for the three major islands of the USVI. The colors of the USVI flag also have symbolic meaning. The red section is used to represent love, while the white stands for the clouds above the islands, the blue stands for the water that surrounds them, green represents their hills and yellow stands for their flowers.