Last modified: 2009-07-26 by dov gutterman
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image by Željko Heimer, 13 February 1996
Official Name: United States Virgin Islands
Previous name: Danish West
Indies
Capital: Charlotte Amalie
Location: Caribbean
Government Type: Organized, Unincorporated
Territory of the US
Flag adopted: 17
May 1921
ISO Code: VI
See also:
The flag of the US Virgin Island shows a bird in a pose
similar to that on the US presidential flag or state arms.
However, its colouring is not that of a bald eagle, and it looks
much more benign. What is this bird?
Rob Raeside, 17 January 2000
It is a bald eagle. The flag of the Virgin Islands uses a
simplified version of the US coat of arms. National Geographic
Magazine, September 1934 attributes the flag as being that of the
Governor of the Virgin Islands, adopted by executive order of the
President. DK goes into more detail: adopted in 1921, the three
arrows represent the three main islands.
Phil Nelson, 17 January 2000
OK, it is supposed to be a bald eagle, since it was based on
the US arms. But, what does distinguish a (heraldic) bald eagle?
Only the white head, and nothing more. Yet this USVI eagle is all
golden, just like, say, the Russian or Egyptian eagles... And
that's weird, as even American Samoa shows a proper colored bald
eagle (not to mention Illinois, Utah, Iowa or New York...).
António Martins, 20 January 2000
The official
website of the government of the Virgin Islands states:
The flag of the United States Virgin Islands was adopted by
Executive Order on May 17,1921. Upon a white field between, the
letters V I, an American Eagle in yellow is displayed with the
shield of the United States on its breast. A sprig of laurel is
in its dexter talon, while a bundle of three blue arrows are in
its sinister talon. The letters V I and the three arrows are in
azure blue and the blue of the shield is the blue of the arms and
flag of the United States.
Phil Nelson, 7 Febuary 2000
From <www.virginislandsdailynews.com>:
Recently Blanche Sasso from the US Virgin Islands could celebrate
her 105th birthday. "In 1921 she embroidered the first U.S.
Virgin Islands flag with her sister, Grace Sparks. The flag
design was done by Sparks' husband", as the news report
states.
Martin Karner, 19 September 2004
There really is little (if any) doubt that that the USVI flag
shows a simplified version of the US national emblem, and that
Admiral Kettelle so designed it in 1921.
Leaving aside any consideration of the two practically identical
shields, the US emblem shows a bald eagle in its proper colours
with outspread wings, and whilst it is arguable whether those
wings are heraldically "displayed" as per the official
blazon or "volant", those of the VI show a very similar
attitude, with the bird (howsoever simplified in rendition)
having an eagle's beak and clutching in its talons both a bunch
of arrows and a branch in the same way as in the US..
Christopher Southworth, 25 September 2008
.gif)
image from <school.discovery.com>
, located by Joe McMillan, 20 September 2001
The bird on the Virgin Islands' flag is not an American eagle
- it is a bananaquit, a beautiful little warbler native to the
Caribbean. See: <www.wbu.com>.
The flag I saw looked like the bananaquit. There is another flag
that does look like an eagle
D. Regina Boyd, 24 and 27 September 2008
Every source I have quotes it as being an "American
Eagle" (or sometimes "a version of the US arms"),
and in all truth it looks like the same eagle (but in gold) to
me.
However, is not the bird on the seal of the US Virgin Islands a
bananaquit?
Christopher Southworth, 24 September 2008
It is s a "Yellow Breast" according to <www.legvi.org|>:
"The present Great Seal of the U.S. Virgin Islands became
effective on January 1, 1991. It was designed by Mitch Davis, a
native Virgin Islander, and was selected from among 33 other
submissions from around the world. The symbols depicted thereon
are representative of the three major islands comprising the U.S.
Virgin Islands and were chosen for their historical as well as
future significance. The sugar mill was chosen for St. Croix
because it was the center of agricultural productivity during the
early years of the island?s history. Today, St. Croix is the hub
of industrial production in the territory, with the Hess Oil
Refinery, Martin Marietta Complex and the Industrial Park. The
Annaberg ruins on the island of St. John represent that islands?s
role in the production of sugar and the slave uprisings. The
ruins currently site in the National Park, which is the bastion
of preservation in the territory and its environment for the
present and into the future. The Legislative Building on the
island of St. Thomas represents the seat of government and the
capital of the United States Virgin Islands. The two flags being
flown are the Dannaberg, which is being lowered, and the U.S.
flag. The flags depict the transfer of the islands from Denmark
to the United States on March 31, 1917, on the grounds of the
Legislature. The boat in the harbor of St. Thomas represents the
importance of the islands in interstate and international
commerce, from Columbus? discovery of the islands to the present
and into the future, with the cruise ship and charter boat
industries as well as down island traders.
The motto inscribed on the scroll, "United in Pride and
Hope" relates to the fact that the islands are inhabited by
varied groups of people of different ethnic, national and
religious persuasions and all live together in relative harmony
to form one community.
Put the above variables together and you have a seal that
represents pride, dignity, history, culture and the natural
beauty of the United States Virgin Islands.
The purpose of this design is to instill a sense of pride and
dignity in the U.S.V.I. and in our people. Each color which makes
up the composition was chosen to exemplify a specific identity to
the islands. Working from the outside to the center, the
significance of each aspect of the design is described below.
The words "Legislature of the United States Virgin
Islands" encircle the seal. The yellow color which borders
the seal represents our tropical sun with its brilliant rays
beaming down and keeping us warm 365 days a year; the green color
of the islands represents the foliage that is ever present and
creates our natural beauty; the white trim around the islands
represents the white sand that is found on our world-renowned
beaches; the blue represents the crystal clear waters which
surround our islands and the magnificent blue skies which are
seldom cloudy.
In addition, the Yellow Breast, our national bird, with its
regal-colored chest is perched on a stem of our national flower,
the Yellow Cedar, with three of its fruits, three flowers in
bloom, and three leaves, all representing the three major
islands. These national symbols were especially selected for the
following reasons: 1. they are our legally adopted national
symbols; 2. they are easily recognized; and 3. they populate all
of the islands."
Jarig Bakker, 24 September 2008
A bananaquit is a passerine, being the only member
of genus Coereba. Local names: beany bird
(Jamaica), honey-creeper (St Vincent, US Virgin Is), see-see bird
(Grenada), sikyé-bird (Trinidad), sugar-bird (Barbados, USVI),
and yellow-breast (Antigua, Barbados, USVI).
There is a big collection of bananaquit videos on the Internet
Bird Collection (a kind of BOTW). There is also a big
collection of bananaquit songs at <www.xeno-canto.org>.
Ivan Sache, 24 September 2008
I saw the design of the up-coming Virgin Islands' quarter
dollar. I couldn't figure out what the bird, "Yellow
Breast" was supposed to be. I saw that the seal also had a
similar bird.
Raffaele's "A Guide to the Birds of Puerto Rico and the
Virgin Islands" concurs that the Virgin Islands' local name
for the Bananaquit is "Yellows Breast", but neither the
quarter dollar nor the seal as shown above looks like one.
The beak is short, looking like a sparrow's beak, not curved and
sharply pointed. The throat of the bird on the seal is too light
and has a blueish cast rather than gray. At the past, I was
convinced it was a (still poorly drawn) warbler in winter
plumage.
Cyril N. Alberga, 1 January 2009
There are three islands in Virgin Islands. According to Administrative
divisions of the World the island are divided to sub districts
as follows:
Saint Croix: Anna's Hope Village, Christiansted,
East End, Frederiksted, Northcentral, Northwest, Sion Farm,
Southcentral, Southwest.
Saint John: Central, Coral Bay, Cruz Bay, East
End.
Saint Thomas: Charlotte Amalie, East End,
Northside, Southside, Tutu, Water Island, West End.
There is no information about any flags used by those
subdivisions.
Dov Gutterman, 3 August 2004
Probably won't happen, but if it does, a new flag would
result.....
From Associated Press: "At least 5,500 residents of
St. Croix, the largest of the U.S. Virgin Islands, have signed a
petition asking Congress to make the island its own U.S.
territory. Supporters say seceding from the rest of the Virgin
Islands would bring the island more U.S. funds. St. Croix is
poorer than the two other main islands of St. Thomas and St.
John. Volunteers, who are still collecting signatures,
plan to give the petition to Congress in the near future, said
Rena Brodhurst, president of the Committee for St. Croix's
Self-Government. But some admit they are not optimistic about its
chances for success. Only about 20 percent of St. Croix's
27,000 registered voters have signed, and reorganizing the
territorial government would take major legislative changes.
Still, the petition will draw attention to St. Croix's
economic needs, said Donna M. Christensen, the U.S. Caribbean
territory's nonvoting representative in Congress and a St. Croix
native. "I believe in the principle that St. Croix
needs more attention ... Their position is a bit extreme, but I
signed it just to draw some attention," she said.
Though St. Croix is home to the Western Hemisphere's second
largest oil refinery and the Cruzan Rum distillery, unemployment
is at about 13 percent compared to 9 percent on the other two
islands. St. Croix residents voted four of their seven
territorial senators out of office in elections on Nov. 2. Many
residents complained they were poorly represented and received
less than their share of government money. Terrance
Nelson, elected to the Senate this year from St. Croix, said the
island needed more help, but he didn't sign the petition.
He said changing in the local government structure would be a
better way to get more funding. Nelson said it was unfair
that St. Thomas and St. John elected eight of the 15 senators,
leaving seven to St. Croix. Home to 110,000 people, the
Caribbean islands have been a U.S. territory since the American
government purchased them from Denmark in 1917."
David C. Fowler, 15 November 2004
University of Virgin Islands at Brewer's Bay near Charlotte
Amalie was established in 1986 (originally founded in 1963 as a
College of Virgin Islands).
In October last year there was a vote to select the flag of UVI
out of 14 submitted designs. I couldn't find any info on which
design was finally chosen.
Source: <www.uvi.edu>.
Chrystian Kretowicz, 15 July 2008
Here is the story from <www.uvi.edu>,
dated 5th November 2007: "In other action at the UVI Board
of Trustees meeting, the winning design for a new UVI flag was
presented and ratified. The design [...] was selected from 14
presented to the UVI community for voting. A total of 257 votes
were cast. The top vote getters were Image 1 - with 57 votes,
Image 8 - with 51 votes, Image 2 - with 40 votes, and Image 12 -
with 38 votes."
Valentin Poposki, 19 October 2008