SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES, FLAG OF

vertically striped blue-yellow-green national flag with three green lozenges (diamonds) in the centre. The flag's width-to-length ratio is 2 to 3. The coat of arms of Saint Vincent shows peace and justice represented by two women, one holding an olive branch (peace) and the other making a sacrifice over an altar (justice). This design with the Latin motto Pax et justitia (Peace and justice) was used as a flag badge on the British Blue Ensign when Saint Vincent was an associated state of the United Kingdom from 1969 to 1979. At independence on October 27, 1979, however, a national flag designed by Elaine Liverpool was introduced. The arms were shown on a green breadfruit leaf, recalling the introduction of breadfruit in Saint Vincent by Captain William Bligh. The background of the flag consisted of vertical stripes of blue, yellow, and green separated by narrow white stripes. Many believed this complex and expensive flag to be inappropriate. Following June 1984 elections won by the New Democratic Party, Prime Minister James Mitchell commissioned a new flag. Swiss graphic artist Julien van der Wal created a version with the narrow white stripes omitted, leaving a simple vertical tricolour of blue-yellow-green. The arms and breadfruit leaf, difficult to distinguish at a distance, were replaced by three green diamonds arranged in the form of a V. They suggest three gems (the islands are known as the Gems of the Antilles or the Jewels of the Caribbean), and the V shape is an indirect reference to the first letter of Vincent. The colour symbolism is unchanged from the original flag. Green is for the rich vegetation of the islands and the vitality of their people; yellow stands for golden sands and personal warmth; and blue is for sea and sky. The new flag was officially hoisted on October 22, 1985. Whitney Smith History Colonization Saint Vincent may have been given its name by Christopher Columbus, who is thought to have visited the island on Jan. 22, 1498 (St. Vincent's Day). Its Carib inhabitants were left almost undisturbed until the 18th century. In 1673 the first Africans arrived, a party of slaves who were shipwrecked in the Grenadines and eventually reached Saint Vincent, intermarrying with the native Caribs. French, Dutch, and British settlements were attempted, with the French dominant until the Seven Years' War, when the British general Robert Monckton occupied it (1762). The Treaty of Paris (1763) confirmed British possession, and settlement proceeded in spite of Carib refusal to accept British sovereignty. In 1779 the island was seized by the French, but it was restored to Britain in 1783. In 1795 the Caribs rose in revolt, assisted by the French, but they were finally subdued the following year. Most of them were then deported to the Bay Islands off Honduras and Belize. The emancipation of black slaves in 1834 decreased the island's labour supply, and Portuguese and East Indian labourers were introduced late in the century. In the latter half of the 19th century, sugar prices fell, plunging the island into a depression that lasted through the end of the century. The hurricane of 1898 and the volcanic eruption of 1902 hindered recovery. In 1958 Saint Vincent joined the West Indies Federation. In 1960 it received a new constitution. It became a state in association with the United Kingdom on Oct. 27, 1969. The island had become a member of the Caribbean Free Trade Area on July 1, 1968. Independence Plans put forward in 1972 for the unifications of Saint Vincent with Grenada and Saint Lucia were later dissolved. Independence for Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, as the nation was called, was achieved on Oct. 27, 1979. The new government was formed as a constitutional monarchy and became a member of the Commonwealth. The Saint Vincent Labour Party won the elections of December 1979, and Milton Cato became the first prime minister. Cato was critical of the revolution in Grenada and of developments in Jamaica and Guyana. He preferred closer links with the relatively centrist governments of Trinidad and Tobago and of Barbados. In 1979 the Soufrire volcano erupted once again, damaging agriculture and the tourist trade. Hurricane Allen virtually wiped out the all-important banana crop in 1980. Recession in the United States and the falling value of the pound sterling against the dollar further lowered tourist visits and exports of bananas. In July 1984 the New Democratic Party, under James Mitchell, won the general elections. Mitchell began a program of reorganizing agriculture and of lowering unemployment (which stood at more than 30 percent) by encouraging the construction industry. Under his leadership the economy steadily improved, though high unemployment remained a serious problem. Mitchell began a second five-year term in 1989 after elections gave his party all 15 elective seats in the legislature. Richard Tolson David Lawrence Niddrie The Editors of the Encyclopdia Britannica