Flag of Belize
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| Use | Civil and state flag |
|---|---|
| Proportion | 2:3 |
| Adopted | September 21, 1981 |
| Design | A royal blue field with two red narrow horizontal stripes along the top and the bottom edges and the large white disk in the centre bearing the National Coat of Arms. |
The flag of Belize was adopted on September 21, 1981, the country's first Independence Day. It consists of the Coat of Arms on a blue field with red stripes at the top and bottom.
British Honduras obtained a coat of arms on January 28, 1907, which formed the basis of the badge used on British ensigns. The coat of arms recalls the logging industry that first led to British settlement there. The figures, tools, and mahogany tree represent this industry. The national motto, Sub Umbra Floreo, meaning "Under the Shade I Flourish", is written in the lower part of the coat of arms.
The flag is royal blue, with a white disc at the centre containing the national coat of arms held by a mestizo and a black man. The flag of Belize is the only country to have humans depicted as a major design element on its national flag, although the flag of Malta contains an image of Saint George on the badge of the George Cross, and the flags of British overseas territories Montserrat and the Virgin Islands, and that of French Polynesia also depict humans. The flag is bordered at top and bottom by two red stripes.
The colours on the flag are respectively those of the country's national parties, the People's United Party (PUP) and United Democratic Party (Belize) (UDP). The UDP, established in 1973, had objected to the original blue and white design, those two colours being the PUP's representative colours.
The two red stripes at the top and bottom were added to the original design at independence. The coat of arms was granted in 1907. Red stripes were added to denote the colour of the opposition party. The 50 leaves recall 1950, the year PUP came to power.
From 1950 onward an unofficial national flag was in use. It was blue, with the coat of arms on a white disc in the centre (sometimes a blank white circle was used as the coat of arms was difficult to draw).
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