The flag of Belize was adopted on 21 September 1981, the

day A day is the time rotation period, period of a full Earth's rotation, rotation of the Earth with respect to the Sun. On average, this is 24 hours (86,400 seconds). As a day passes at a given location it experiences morning, afternoon, evening, ...

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

became independent. It consists of the

coat of arms of Belize The coat of arms of Belize was adopted upon independence in 1981. It differs only slightly different from the arms used when British Honduras, Belize was a British colony (the Union Jack has been removed, and a Mestizo has replaced one of the Be ...

on a blue field with red stripes at the top and bottom. British Honduras obtained a coat of arms on 28 January 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 Mahogany is a straight- grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Universit ...

trees 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. Alongside

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

, Belize is the only sovereign nation to feature a human on its flag.

Description

The flag is royal blue, with a white disc at the centre containing the

national coat of arms A national coat of arms is a symbol which denotes an independent state in the form of a heraldic achievement. While a national flag is usually used by the population at large and is flown outside and on ships, a national coat of arms is normally co ...

held by a

mestizo ( , ; fem. , literally 'mixed person') is a term primarily used to denote people of mixed European and Indigenous ancestry in the former Spanish Empire. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to people who are culturall ...

and a man of African descent. 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 The flag of Malta () is a bicolour, with white in the hoist and red in the fly. A representation of the George Cross, awarded to Malta by George VI in 1942, is carried, edged with red, in the canton of the white stripe. The flag was first re ...

contains an image of

Saint George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...

on the badge of the

George Cross The George Cross (GC) is the highest award bestowed by the British government for non-operational Courage, gallantry or gallantry not in the presence of an enemy. In the British honours system, the George Cross, since its introduction in 1940, ...

, and the flags of British overseas territories

Montserrat Montserrat ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about long and wide, wit ...

and

the Virgin Islands The Virgin Islands () are an archipelago between the North Atlantic Ocean and northeastern Caribbean Sea, geographically forming part of the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean islands or West Indies. Geologically separate ...

, and that of

French Polynesia French Polynesia ( ; ; ) is an overseas collectivity of France and its sole #Governance, overseas country. It comprises 121 geographically dispersed islands and atolls stretching over more than in the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean. The t ...

also depict humans. Several other countries' flags have human body parts depicted. The flag of Brunei has human hands, and the flags of Uruguay and Argentina both have human facial features depicted in a personified sun. The flag is bordered at top and bottom by two red stripes. In all, the flag incorporates 19 different colours and shades, making it one of the most colourful national flags in the world. The colours on the flag are respectively those of the country's national parties, the

People's United Party The People's United Party (, PUP) is one of two major political parties in Belize. It is currently the governing party of Belize after success in the 2025 Belizean general election, winning a majority of 26 seats out of 31 in the Belizean Hou ...

(PUP), and

United Democratic Party (Belize) The United Democratic Party (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Partido Democrático Unido''; Abbreviation, abbreviated UDP) is one of the two major political parties in Belize. It is currently the main opposition party, having lost the 2025 Belizean ge ...

(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.

History

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 because it was difficult to draw). In 1981, Belize gained its independence and a competition was held to design a national flag for the country. The winning submission consisted of the unofficial national flag used by the

with a red border added to all four sides. This was changed to a red border on just the top and bottom before the design was officially adopted. The winning design, which was also known as the "Flag of Unity" was made by two government officials: Everal Waight, Public Secretary, and Inez Sanchez, Chief Education Officer. A tattered, but mostly intact Belize flag was found by police officers in the ruins of the

World Trade Center World Trade Centers are the hundreds of sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may also refer to: Buildings * World Trade Center (1973–2001), a building complex that was destroyed during the September 11 at ...

in the aftermath of the

September 11th attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

. The flag was brought to the Embassy of Belize and subsequently returned home to Belize at the request of Prime Minister

Said Musa Said Wilbert Musa (, born 19 March 1944) is a Belizean lawyer and politician. He was the third prime minister of Belize from 28 August 1998 to 8 February 2008. Early life and education Said Wilbert Musa was born in 1944 in San Ignacio in the ...

. The flag currently is housed in the Museum of Belize. Belize lost a single citizen in the attacks - Alva Jeffries Sanchez, who was working on the 96th floor of the North Tower when it was impacted by Flight 11. There were no standardised specifications for the flag of Belize until 2019. The hue of the flag's colours, proportions, the shading of the two men, and other elements often varied. In 2019, the National Celebrations Commission started a standardisation process of the flag with consent from both the PUP and the UDP. They planned to have the standardised flags be hoisted on 1 September 2019, the National Flag Day of Belize. There are plans to formalise the standardisation through national legislation.

Historical flags

File:Flag of Cross of Burgundy.svg, Flag of

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...

until 1785 File:Flag of Spain (1785–1873, 1875–1931).svg, Flag of New Spain (1785-1821) File:Bandera del Primer Imperio Mexicano.svg, Flag of the

First Mexican Empire The Mexican Empire (, ) was a constitutional monarchy and the first independent government of Mexico. It was also the only former viceroyalty of the Spanish Empire to establish a monarchy after gaining independence. The empire existed from 18 ...

(1821-1823) File:Flag of the Federal Republic of Central America.svg, Flag of the

Federal Republic of Central America The Federal Republic of Central America (), initially known as the United Provinces of Central America (), was a sovereign state in Central America that existed between 1823 and 1839/1841. The republic was composed of five states (Costa Rica ...

(1824-1841) File:Flag of British Honduras (1870–1919).svg, Flag of British Honduras (1870–1919) File:Civil Ensign of British Honduras (1870–1919).svg, Civil ensign of British Honduras (1870–1919) File:Flag of British Honduras (1919–1981).svg, Flag of British Honduras/Belize (1919–1981) File:Civil Ensign of British Honduras (1919–1981).svg, Civil ensign of British Honduras/Belize (1919–1981) File:Flag of the Governor of British Honduras (1884–1981).svg, Standard of the governor of British Honduras/Belize File:Flag of Belize (1950-1981).svg, Unofficial civil flag of British Honduras/Belize (1950–1981).
This flag was the basis for the current flag. File:Flag of Belize (1981–2019).svg, Flag flown from 1981 until 28 August 2019 before standardisations

The 12 Colours

Other flags

File:Flag of the Governor-General of Belize.svg, Flag of the

Governor-General of Belize The governor-general of Belize is the representative of the Belizean monarch, currently King Charles III, in Belize. The governor-general is appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the prime minister of Belize. The functions of the go ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Belize, Flag of Flags introduced in 1981 National flags

Flag A flag is a piece of textile, fabric (most often rectangular) with distinctive colours and design. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design employed, and fla ...

Flags introduced in 2019