Belize Flag

How to identify it

A blue field with narrow red bands along the top and bottom edges and a white disc in the centre containing a detailed coat of arms with two figures and a mahogany tree.

Design and construction

Proportions

3:5, standardised 28 August 2019

Adoption and legal status

Adopted 21 September 1981, the day Belize became independent from the United Kingdom, after a bipartisan National Symbols Committee ran a public design competition.

Construction

A royal blue field with narrow red stripes along the top and bottom edges and a white disc in the centre bearing the national coat of arms.

Officially documented meaning

The coat of arms depicts a mestizo woodcutter and a man of African descent holding tools of the logging trade beside a mahogany tree, with the motto "Sub Umbra Floreo" ("Under the Shade I Flourish"); the red stripes were added at independence to signal unity between the two main political parties.

History of the design

Belize is one of only two national flags, along with Malta, to depict human figures as a design element.

Sources