Flag of Dominica

What the flag of Dominica looks like

The flag of Dominica has a dark green field with a cross that reaches the edges. The cross is made up of three narrow stripes side by side: yellow, black and white. Where the arms of the cross meet there is a red disc. On the disc is the Sisserou parrot, also known as the Imperial Amazon, shown in profile and facing the hoist. The bird is drawn in purple and blue, with a green back. A ring of ten green five-pointed stars circles the parrot on the disc. The proportions are 1:2.

Dominica is an island in the Lesser Antilles in the eastern Caribbean, with its capital in Roseau. Its flag is one of the most colorful in the world, using green, yellow, black, white, red and purple. It is easy to mix it up with the Dominican Republic, which is a different country with a different flag, so check the name and the capital. See also the Dominica flag emoji and the Dominica flag download page.

Dominica flag meaning and symbolism

The elements of the Dominica flag are explained in this way:

• Green: the lush vegetation and forests of the island.
• The cross: Christianity, since most of the people of Dominica are Christian. Its three stripes are said to stand for the Holy Trinity.
• Yellow: the sunshine, the citrus and banana crops, and the Carib (Kalinago) people, the first inhabitants.
• Black: the fertile soil and the African heritage of most of the population.
• White: the clean rivers and waterfalls of the island and the purity of its people.
• Red disc: social justice.
• Ten stars: the ten parishes of Dominica.
• The Sisserou parrot: the national bird, which is found only on Dominica and is endangered. It is a symbol of the island's flight toward high aspirations.

These meanings are commonly given, and the official wording can differ slightly between sources.

History of the Dominica flag

Dominica was a French and then a British colony, and under British rule it used the usual blue ensign with a colonial badge. It gained internal self-government in 1967 and became independent on 3 November 1978. The flag was introduced for independence.

The design was created by Alwin Bully, a Dominican artist and cultural figure, and was chosen in a national competition. Bully's design already had the cross, the parrot and the ring of stars.

The flag has been modified slightly twice since independence, in 1981 and in 1990. These changes concerned the drawing of the parrot and the details of the stars and colors. The current version has ten stars, one for each parish, and the cross, the red disc and the green field have stayed the same.

Dominica or the Dominican Republic?

Dominica and the Dominican Republic are two different countries. Dominica is a small English-speaking island of about 70,000 people, while the Dominican Republic is a much larger country that shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti and speaks Spanish. The flag of the Dominican Republic is a white cross on a blue and red background and has a coat of arms with a Bible in the center. The Bible question that people search for relates to that flag, and not to Dominica's.