Flag of Bermuda

What the flag of Bermuda looks like

The flag of Bermuda is a British red ensign: a plain red field with the Union Flag (the Union Jack) in the upper hoist corner. The proportions are 1:2. On the right half of the red field, the fly, is the Bermuda coat of arms on a white disc.

The arms show a red lion that holds a shield in its paws. On that shield is a ship breaking up on rocks in a stormy sea, the wreck of the Sea Venture. The arms are carried with the Latin motto Quo Fata Ferunt, "Whither the Fates carry [us]". You can also see the flag as the Bermuda flag emoji 🇧🇲.

Bermuda flag meaning and symbolism

The flag shows the link between Bermuda and the United Kingdom, and the history of the island's settlement.

• The Union Jack in the corner shows that Bermuda is a British Overseas Territory.
• The red field follows the British Red Ensign, a flag long used by merchant ships. Bermuda's seafaring tradition made it a good fit.
• The lion is a symbol of England and Britain, and it holds a shield with the wreck of the Sea Venture.
• The shipwreck recalls 1609, when the Sea Venture, on its way to the new colony of Jamestown in Virginia, was driven onto the reefs of Bermuda in a hurricane. Its crew and passengers survived and later built new ships to continue the voyage. Some stayed behind, and the English settlement of the island began in 1612.

The motto Quo Fata Ferunt fits the same story: the castaways went wherever the fates took them.

History of the Bermuda flag

The island is named after the Spanish navigator Juan de Bermúdez, who sighted it in the early 16th century, but it was settled by the English after the Sea Venture wreck. It was run by a company until it became a Crown colony in 1684. Like other British colonies, it used the Blue Ensign with a local badge for government use, while the Red Ensign was the flag of merchant ships.

Bermuda's flag with its coat of arms on the Red Ensign dates from 1910, the date usually given for its adoption. Government ships and officials use the Blue Ensign with the same arms. The Red Ensign is also the flag flown on land by the public, which sets Bermuda apart from most other British territories. The arms on the flag have been redrawn since 1910.

Bermuda is still a British Overseas Territory with its own government, and it has not changed its flag. See other territories on the flags of the world page or the flags of North America.