Historical flags of Grenada

Last modified: 2005-04-29 by
Keywords: british associated state | colonial badge | flower | nutmeg | mace | spice | hae tibi erunt artes | sugar mill | trapiche | sail ship | clarior e tenebris |
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• British associated state flag, 1967-1974
• Colonial flag, 1903-1974
• Previous colonial flag, 1875-1903

• Grenada

British associated state flag, 1967-1974

This flag was adopted in 1967 when the island became a British associated state. It was replaced by the present flag when Grenada became independent in 1974. This drawing is based on the illustrations in [ped70] and in [eva70], which differ slightly in the details of the central badge.
Vincent Morley, 23 Apr 1997

The emblem is the nutmeg which grows throughout Grenada (otherwise known as the Spice Island) and grows downwards inside of a yellow pod. The red in the emblem signifies the mace that grows on the outside of the nut and is also used as a spice.
Leslie Wilson, 19 Apr 2001

Why the flags of both Grenada and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, both of 1967, are so similar?

• Grenada: blue - yellow - green horizontal with oval white borderd red in the centre (and a nutmeg pod in the white)
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: green - yellow - blue horizontal with lozengle white borderd blue in the centre (and a flower in the white)

The College of Arms seem to have been trying to create a family of flags for islands of the former West Indian Federation.
David Prothero, 04 Aug 1999

Colonial flag, 1903-1974

The latin inscription beneath the ship — «clarior e tenebris» translates as «light out of darkness», and the ship, it has been suggested is to represent that of Columbus. Dates for the Blue Ensign in [zna99] are given as 1903-1967.
Martin Grieve, 04 Jun 2003

It appeared on the Blue Ensign from 1903 to 1974. It may possibly have been used on the Union Jack after the Windward Islands administration was dissolved in 1960, or after the Associated States were established in 1967, until independence in 1974.
David Prothero, 29 Jul 2002

Possible governor flag

The World Statesmen web-site haslist of Administrators up to 1967, and thereafter, Governors from 1967 to 1974. I have no idea if this flag ever actually existed.
Martin Grieve, 05 Jun 2003

Detail according to Evans

there seem to be 2 main variations on the sea colour. Observers Book of Flags (1966) [eva66] and Znamierowskiʼs World Encyclopedia (1999), [zna99] show predominantly green sea, whilst Flaggenbuch by Neubecker [neu39], shows a blue sea. There may of course been a few variants in use at that time.
Martin Grieve, 04 Jun 2003

Detail according to Neubecker

Previous colonial flag, 1875-1903

The old badge is a sugar mill. It appeared on only the Blue Ensign, 1875 to 1903.
David Prothero, 29 Jul 2002

The motto is «HAE TIBI ERUNT ARTES».
Jaume Ollé, 01 Dec 2002

In the center of the badge you can see a sugar cane mill moved by oxen. This mill is apparently made of metal, due to the blue color of it. In Puerto Rico they were made of wood. This very kind of sugar cane mill, known in Spanish America as trapiche, was called «Blood Sugar Cane Mill» or «Trapiche de Sangre», because many slaves lost their hands when they were trampled and squashed by the moving rolls of this particular mill. The slave had to pass by hand through the moving rolls the bundle of sugar cane they were carrying, and sometimes there hands got caught in too.
Blas Delgado, 01 Dec 2002

Detail

From The Arms and Badges of the Several Colonies of Great Britain [hms81] published by Her Majestyʼs Stationery Office in 1881.
David Prothero, 03 Dec 2002