The flag of the British Virgin Islands was adopted on 15 November 1960. It is a defaced Blue Ensign with the Union Flag in the canton, and defaced with the coat of arms of the British Virgin Islands. The coat of arms features Saint Ursula and the lamps of her virgin followers, which gives the islands their name.
The civil ensign is a red ensign with the coat of arms of the British Virgin Islands. The red ensign is to be flown on board vessels either registered in the British Virgin Islands or by vessels visiting the British Virgin Islands.
The Governor of the British Virgin Islands has a separate flag, a Union Flag defaced with the coat of arms. This design is similar to flags of the other Governors in British overseas territories.
Famous quotes containing the words flag, british, virgin and/or islands:
“There’s an enduring American compulsion to be on the side of the angels. Expediency alone has never been an adequate American reason for doing anything. When actions are judged, they go before the bar of God, where Mom and the Flag closely flank His presence.”
—Jonathan Raban (b. 1942)
“About the alleged condition of the property. Does it have to be intact?”
—Margaret Forster, British screenwriter, Peter Nichols, and Silvio Narizzano. Georgy (Lynn Redgrave)
“But see, the Virgin blest
Hath laid her Babe to rest:
Time is our tedious song should here have ending;
Heaven’s youngest teemed star,
Hath fixed her polished car,
Her sleeping Lord with handmaid lamp attending;
And all about the courtly stable,
Bright-harnessed angels sit in order serviceable.”
—John Milton (1608–1674)
“Consider the islands bearing the names of all the saints, bristling with forts like chestnut-burs, or Echinidæ, yet the police will not let a couple of Irishmen have a private sparring- match on one of them, as it is a government monopoly; all the great seaports are in a boxing attitude, and you must sail prudently between two tiers of stony knuckles before you come to feel the warmth of their breasts.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)