Bahamas

Commonwealth of the Bahamas, The Bahamas

Last modified: 2009-08-29 by dov gutterman
Keywords: bahamas | caribbean | america | the bahamas |
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image by Clay Moss, 29 April 2009

Official Name: Commonwealth of The Bahamas
Capital: Nassau
Location: Caribbean
Government Type: Constitutional Monarchy (Queen Elizabeth II)
Flag adopted: 10 July 1973
Coat of arms adopted: 7 December 1971
Designer: Hervis Bain
ISO Code: BS

• The Flag
• Subdivisions

See also:

• Bahamas - Coat of Arms
• Bahamas - Governor-General Flag
• Bahamas - The Ensigns
• Bahamas - Senior Government Officials Flags
• Bahamas - Police Flag
• Bahamas - The Colonial Period
• Bahamas - Proposal
• Bahamas - Abaco Islands
• Bahamas - Goombay Summer Pennant
• Bahamas - Houseflags of Shipping Companies
• Bahamas - Yacht Clubs
• Flags on stamps of Bahamas

The Flag

Concering Album 2000 [pay00] - National Flag. CSW/--- 1:2 - The construction details that are shown around the enges of the image are quite suspicious, unless I have made a mistake counting on fingers myself. The horizontals stripse are of equal width, there is no doubt about that, but vertical division is given as 2+4, i.e. the triangle height is suposed to be 1/3 of the length. Judging from all the pictures I have seen that is entirely wrong - the triangle seems to be of equal sides (i.e. the height is sqrt(3)/2).
Željko Heimer, 7 Febuary 2001

I agree. It is a mistake.
Armand du Payrat, 16 Febuary 2001

Bahamas flag colour shades from Album 2000 are:
Pantone --- CMYK
B  312c  --- 100-0-15-0
Y  115c  ---  0-10-80-0
Santiago Dotor, 26 Febuary 2001

Smith (1975) [smi75b] reported: "The golden sands of the 700 Bahamian islands are reflected in the centre of the flag, while the aquamarine stripes bring to mind the various shades of ocean waters around those islands.  The black triangle indicates the unity of the Bahamian people in their determination to develop the resources of both land and sea."
This seems a bit "embroidered" to me, and given the fact that the flag was fairly new in 1975 when the book was published (and probably brand new when he actually wrote it), I wonder whether Bahamians still see these aspirations in their flag?
Rob Raeside, 12 March 2001

In Album 2000 - Corr. Nr 1 [pay01] - Page BA 1.1 (National flag) - New specifications: ~2.6:~3.4 instead of 2:4 along the horizontal axis.
Ivan Sache, 8 October 2001

In the absence of any official statistics, I have looked at all the available official images I could find, and must agree that the flag should have an equilateral triangle.
This, I calculate, would give 10-10-10 at the hoist, and 13-17 across the top thus confirming the revised figures shown in the Album.
Christopher Southworth, 29 April 2009

Subdivisions

Bahamas is divided to 21 districts. There are no known flags of those districts. The districts are:
- Acklins and Crooked Islands
- Bimini
- Cat Island
- Exuma
- Fresh Creek
- Freeport
- Governorīs Harbour
- Green Turtle Cay
- Harbour Island
- High Rock
- Inagua
- Kemps Bay
- Long Island
- Mayaguana
- Marsh Harbour
- Nichollstown and Berry Islands
- New Providence
- Ragged Island
- Rock Sound
- Sandy Point
- San Salvador and Rum Cay
List based on Administrative divisions of the World.
Dov Gutterman, 25 October 2004