THE NATIONAL FLAG OF DOMINICA
This is the national flag of Dominica with its most recent design as of 3 November 1988. The history of the changes that were made to our flag is given below. Dominican artist and playwright Alwin Bully designed the flag in early 1978 in preparation for the gaining of independence from Britain later that year and the cabinet made certain small alterations to the original design.
Alwin Bully was born in Roseau in 1948 and was educated at the Convent Preparatory School, the Dominica Grammar School, the St. Mary's Academy and The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill. He returned to teach at his old Alma Mata, eventually serving as its headmaster. During this time he was deeply involved in promoting all aspects of the arts in Dominica including drama, painting, dance, folk traditions, creative writing and Carnival. In 1965 he had represented Dominica at the Commonwealth Arts Festival in Britain along with members of the Kairi and Dominica Dance troups. In 1978, with the encouragement of then Minister of Education, H. L. Christian, he established the ‘cultural desk’ in the Ministry of Education that eventually developed into the Cultural Division in the Ministry of Community Development. In 1987 he left Dominica to work at the regional office of UNESCO in Jamaica, applying his creative skills to the wider Caribbean.
The flag was legally established by Act No. 18 of 1978, The National Emblems of Dominica Act, signed by the Governor, Sir Louis Cools-Lartigue on 31 October 1978, Gazetted 1 November 1978 and effective 3 November 1978.
I give here a simplified description of the flag. The official one published in 1978 can be seen below. The flag has a green background representing the forested island. A cross, made up of three bands representing "the Trinity of God" is white, black and yellow in colour, and the cross itself "demonstrates belief in God". According to the designer, Alwin Bully, the colours of each band represent aspects of the land and the ethnic origins of its people: the yellow for the sunshine, the main agricultural products of the island at the time, citrus and bananas and the indigenous Carib/Kalinago people, the black for the soil and the African heritage, the white for the rivers and waterfalls of the island and the European influence.
This was Alwin Bully’s original intention, but the official description reads that the white band represents "the clarity of our rivers and waterfalls and the purity of the aspirations of our people" and the Europeans are not mentioned at all. This is an ironic exclusion, because a large percentage of Dominicans, mixed as they may be, are descended from Europeans, particularly the early French settlers such as Royer, Le Blanc, Dubios, Laurent, Darroux, Anselm, Giraudel, Sorhaindo, Peltier, Sabroache, Rolle, Brument, Fontaine, Dupigny,Vidal and many others and not forgetting such British ancestry as the Shillingfords, Greens, Garraways, Bells, Pembertons, Nixons, Warringtons, Senhouses, Musgraves, Winstons, Macintyres, Grells and many others. The European cultural influences, for better or for worse are all around us. But then again the flag is a product of its time, and the mood of 1970s ideology was very much aimed at downplaying the white presence.
Similarly, in 1978 the red sun was described as carrying "the connotation of socialism", which was the political ideology of the ruling party at the time, but by 1988 it simply represented the "rising sun of independence" or in another version, The red central emblem symbolises Dominica's commitment to social justice. The ten "lime green" stars the "traditional symbol of hope" bordered in yellow, represent the ten parishes of the island "each with equal status, thus the equality of our people", while the centerpiece is the Sisserou parrot, (Amazona imperialis) or the Imperial Parrot, the national bird of Dominica.
Here is the Official Announcement of 3 November 1978:
The new Dominica independence flag is now on display at Government headquarters. Dominicans are invited to view the flag on the third floor of the building.
The flag in an amendment of a design submitted by Alwin Bully for a flag competition held early this year. It consists of a circular emblem of red bearing a Sisserou Parrot (Psittacus Imperialis) standing on a twig encircled by ten lime green stars. This is superimposed on three vertical and three horizontal stripes of yellow, white and black forming a triple coloured cross against a general background of forest green.
The central emblem presents the National Bird of Dominica, the Sisserou Parrot, also a symbol of flight towards greater heights and fulfillment of aspirations. The Parrot also comes from the Dominica Coat of Arms thus symbolising the official seal of the country.
The ten lime green stars - the traditional symbol of hope - represent the ten parishes of the country, each with equal status, thus the equality of our people. The red central emblem carries the connotation of socialism.
The yellow, white and black stripes form a triple coloured cross representing the Trinity of God. The cross itself demonstrates belief in God since the Commonwealth of Dominica is founded upon principles that acknowledge the supremacy of God.
The yellow stripe represents the sunshine of our land, our main agricultural products: citrus and bananas and also a symbol of the Carib people, the first inhabitants of the Island.
The white stripe represents the clarity of our rivers and waterfalls and the purity of aspirations of our people.
The black stripe represents the rich black soil of our island on which our agriculture is based and also our African heritage.
The general background of dark green symbolises our rich verdant forests and the general lushness of the island.
The flag can be seen during normal working hours. Citizens may, if they so desire, use the colours of the flag for making buntings to decorate their houses and surroundings during Independence Celebrations.
(Note that the scientific name of the parrot is incorrect)
CHANGES
A number of minor changes have been made to the design of the flag since independence. Just after independence, when the flag was to be registered by The College of Arms, the traditional institution that oversees heraldry in Britain, there were certain parts that did not conform to the rules of the heraldic layout of colour dating back to medieval times. The main objection was that "an enamel cannot lie against an enamel" so that certain colours could not rest next to each other.
On the night of independence the bands on the cross on the flag were in the order of black, yellow, white. The black line was next to the green of the main body of the flag. In this case black and green were "enamels" and so the black line had to be placed between the yellow and the white line to be separated from the green. The same thing happened with the stars: green and red are enamels, so to solve this, yellow lines or ‘fimbriation’, to use the technical term, were put between the green of the stars and the red of the rising sun. This new flag came into use on 3 November 1981.
Then there was an issue with the positioning of the parrot. There was no hard and fast rule as to which direction it should face. It was decided that the parrot should always face the flagpole. And this form of the flag came into use on 3 November 1988. Most national flags have a maximum of four colours but the Dominica flag has eight, making it more complicated and expensive to produce.
The office of the President of the Commonwealth of Dominica has its own standard. The President’s Standard is a plain forest green flag with the national coat of arms in the center. It is flown on the car of the President when he is a passenger, while the national flag is flown on the vehicle transporting the Prime Minister.