Flag of Antigua and Barbuda

What the flag means

The government's national symbols page says the seven-pointed sun marks the dawn of a new era. Red stands for the lifeblood of enslaved forefathers and the energy of the people, blue for hope, and black for the soil and African roots. Gold, blue and white together are the sun, sea and sand, and the V shape means 'victory at last'.

History

Reginald Samuel, a local artist and sculptor, designed the flag in 1966 and won a public competition that drew more than 600 entries. It was adopted on 27 February 1967, when the West Indies Act 1967 made Antigua an associated state of the United Kingdom with internal self-government. It replaced a British Blue Ensign carrying the colony's arms, and the country kept it at independence on 1 November 1981.

Earlier flags of Antigua and Barbuda

1. 1956–1967British Blue Ensign with the colony's arms, showing an aloe plant and a sugar mill