
Last modified: 2024-11-09 by rob raeside
Keywords: saint vincent and the grenadines | diamonds: 3 (green) | gem | the gems | van der wal (julien) | governor general | error | st vincent & the grenadines | 
Links: FOTW homepage |
search | 
disclaimer and copyright | 
write us | 
mirrors
 image by Zoltan Horvath, 14 September 2024
image by Zoltan Horvath, 14 September 2024
The flag is vertically blue yellow green 1:2:1, with 
three green diamonds. Diamonds are said to represent that 
islands are “gems of Antilles”. The flag was 
introduced in 
October 21st 
1985.
Željko Heimer, 29 Jan 1996
The Album 2000 [pay00] says:
1. National Flag.Vertical tricolour of blue-yellow-green, the yellow being double the width of each of the other two, and with three green lozenges, two and one in the middle of it. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is one of those rare Commonwealth countries that did not adopt the British ensign system and uses one national flag for all purposes. The ratio is also not quite according to British traditions.2:3
After a local competition failed to produce a satisfactory 
design, the problem was submitted to a Swiss graphic artist
who suggested what is now the current design.
Ivan Sache, 31 Jan 2000, quoting from
[rya97]
The Swiss graphic artist who designed the current flag of St Vincent 
is the late Julien van der Wal. Among many of creations, he is 
also the author of the current flag of the Canton 
of Geneva.
Tal Schibler, 24 Mar 2010
Julien van der Wal was the Swiss designer of the Saint Vincent and 
Grenadines flag (source: 
article 
in the Encyclopedia Britannica, by Whitney 
Smith
Dave Martucci, 23 Jan 2010
The present flag of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines came into use officially on Monday October 21, 1985. That morning there was a ceremony at the War Memorial in Kingston to mark the change over. According [v9c85], a leaflet produced in 1985 at the Government Printing Office in Kingston, the symbolism of the flag is as follows:
The green diamonds are shaped in a V for St. Vincent, and reflect the plural nature of the many islands of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. These gems define St. Vincent and the Grenadines as the gems of the Antilles. The Blue represents the sky and sea. the gold is for warmth, the bright spirit of the people and the golden sands of the Grenadines. The Green represents the lush vegetation of St. Vincent’s agriculture and the enduring vitality of the people. The Flag may be called “The gems”.
Jos Poels 03 Dec 1996
The Grenadines consist of two groups, the Northern and the Southern
Grenadines; the latter belong to Grenada, among which are Carriacou,
Petite Martinique, Diamind island, Ronde island, Les Tantes, Caille
island, London Bridge island, The Sisters, Green island, Bird island. 
In total there are c. 600 Grenadines. 34,5 sq. km. belong to
Grenada; 45,3 sq. km. to St. Vincent.
(source: Fischer Weltalmanach 2000)
Jarig Bakker, 03 Feb 2000
Photos of the national flag:
https://www.alamy.com/...st-vincent-and-the-grenadines-flag
https://annsvg.com/index.php
image cropped from Opening Ceremony of Paris 2024 Olympics
Zoltan Horvath, 14 September 2024
Sources available on internet show the national flag with two different shade 
of blue.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade, 
and Regional Integration has a page about national flag with illustration (with 
a darker shade of blue):
https://foreign.gov.vc. This 
page shows an image of a lighter shade of blue, but flag illustration has a 
darker shade of blue:
https://caribbean.loopnews.com
The House of Assembly has a page about History of flag which use 
text and illustrations from FOTW:
http://assembly.gov.vc/assembly 
I haven’t found any legal document on color specification of the 
flag. There is no official source that gives exact colors of the national flag; 
colors listed below are all approximate colors from the documented sources.
Zoltan Horvath, 14 September 2024
The protocol manual for the 
London 2012 Olympics
	(Flags and Anthems Manual 
London 2012 [loc12]) provides recommendations 
for national flag designs. Each 
NOC
	was sent an image of the flag, including the 
PMS shades, for their approval by LOCOG. Once this was obtained, LOCOG produced 
a 60 x 90 cm version of the flag for further approval. So, while these specs may 
not be the official, government, version of each flag, they are certainly what 
the NOC
	believed the flag to be. 
For St Vincent & the Grenadines: PMS 286 blue, 109 yellow, 354 green. The 
vertical flag is simply the horizontal version turned 90 degrees clockwise.
Ian Sumner, 10 October 2012
The Flag Manual - Beijing 2008 gives Pantone colors: PMS 102 (yellow), PMS 
300 (blue), and PMS 355 (green).
The Album des Pavillons 2000 [pay00] 
(Corr. No. 6.) gives approximate colors in Pantone and CMYK systems:
Blue: 
Pantone 300c, CMYK 100-45-0-0
Yellow: Pantone 116c, CMYK 0-10-90-0
Green: 
Pantone 347c, CMYK 100-0-80-5
Dark Blue: Pantone 287c, CMYK 100-70-0-10
Flags and Anthems Manual London 2012 [loc12] 
gives Pantone colors: PMS 286 (blue), PMS 109 (yellow), and PMS 354 (green).
The Album des Pavillons 2023 already specifies the colors of the flags in 
three color systems:
Dark blue: Pantone 287c, CMYK 99-80-0-0, RGB 0-53-173
Blue: Pantone 300c, CMYK 88-57-0-0, RGB 0-103-198
Yellow: Pantone 116c, CMYK 
0-19-93-0, RGB 255-206-0
Green: Pantone 347c, CMYK 84-12-94-1, RGB 0-149-67
Vexilla Mundi 
gives colors in Pantone system: PMS 116C (yellow), PMS 347C (green), and PMS 
300C (blue).
Wikipedia 
illustrates the flag, and construction details, but doesn’t give any color 
specification.
The 
Italian version gives RGB 
color values:
Blue: 0-114-198, Yellow: 252-209-22, and Green: 0-158-96.
Flag Color Codes gives the 
following color values:
Blue: Hex # 002674, RGB 0-38-116, CMYK 100-80-0-12, 
Pantone
286, RAL 5002
Yellow: Hex # FCD022, RGB 252-208-34, CMYK
0-5-100-0, Pantone 109, RAL 1018
Green: Hex #007C2E, RGB 0-124-46, CMYK 85-0-98-0, 
Pantone 354, RAL 6037
Zoltan Horvath, 14 September 2024
.gif) image located by Zoltan Horvath, 14 September 2024
 image located by Zoltan Horvath, 14 September 2024
What is generally shown as the current form of the Arms would have 
been designed by a herald at the College of Arms in London when the 
Arms were granted in 1912. However 
the scene on the shield is not original. It is a copy of the 
Seal of St Vincent which was in 
use before 1839 when it appeared in an anaglyptograph of Seals 
of the Colonies of the British Empire 
[g9bXXc].
David Prothero, 12 Nov 2008
The coat of arms shows peace and justice. It comprises of the arms, two women 
dressed in classical peplos, Peace and Justice. One of the women holds an olive 
branch (peace) while the other is shown before an altar (justice). Above the 
shield is the crest with a sprig of cotton plant. The coat of arms bears the 
motto 'PAX ET JUSTITIA' which in Latin means ‘Peace and Justice.’ The coat of 
arms was designed by Elaine Liverpool.
Zoltan Horvath, 14 September 2024
govt.gif) image located by Zoltan Horvath, 14 September 2024
 image located by Zoltan Horvath, 14 September 2024
The Government uses a slightly different version, without the crest with a 
sprig of cotton plant: 
https://www.gov.vc/index.php 
 Zoltan Horvath, 14 September 2024
 image by Zoltan Horvath, 14 September 2024
 image by Zoltan Horvath, 14 September 2024
The Album 2000 [pay00] says:
2. Governor General. 1:2Blue flag with the royal crest and yellow ribbon inscribed in black "St VINCENT & THE GRENADINES".
The flag is the standard GG flag charged with St. Edward’s crown. Based on images I found on the Internet, she still uses the St. Edward’s crown on her flag.
Images of the flag:
https://www.gov.vc/index.php/home/governor-general 
https://caribbean.loopnews.com
https://caribbean.loopnews.com 
https://www.iwnsvg.com 
Zoltan Horvath, 14 September 2024
 image by Zoltan Horvath, 14 September 2024
 image by Zoltan Horvath, 14 September 2024
The Album des Pavillons 2023 has already illustrated the flag of Governor 
General with a Tudor crown. This flag has not (yet) been seen in use.
 Zoltan Horvath, 14 September 2024
 image by Željko Heimer and Victor Lomantsov, 03 Jan 2003
image by Željko Heimer and Victor Lomantsov, 03 Jan 2003
In 1993 Michel Lupant wrote in Gaceta de banderas 
[gdb] about a red flag of
governor-general.
Victor Lomantsov, 03 Jan 2003
According to Michel Lupant, it should be blue; it will be corrected by 
him in Gaceta as soon as possible.
Armand du Payrat, 06 Jan 2003
Governor General flag was never red but blue, it was a mistake 
in the translation in Gaceta.
Michel Lupant, 19 Jun 2005
 image by Antonio Martins, 15 Aug 1999
image by Antonio Martins, 15 Aug 1999
According to the WMO book [c9h07], Saint Vincent and the Grenadines partially use the well-known US signal set: