Dominica Observes Flag Day as Part of National Emblems Week

OCTOBER 14, 2024 — Today, Dominica celebrates Flag Day, part of the island’s National Emblems Week, organized by the Commonwealth of Dominica Cultural Division, reported Dominica News Online. As part of the observance, a motorcade will take place around the capital, Roseau, and other parts of the island, encouraging citizens to display and honor the national flag.

The flag was first unveiled on November 3, 1978, following a national competition and designed by Dr. Alwin Bully. It has undergone three modifications since independence, with the most recent changes occurring on November 3, 1990, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Dominica’s flag features a circular red emblem, symbolizing socialism, with a blue-chested Sisserou Parrot standing on a twig. The parrot, which must always face the flagpole, is surrounded by ten lime-green stars representing the island’s ten parishes, outlined in yellow. The emblem is superimposed over a cross of yellow, black, and white stripes, symbolizing the Christian Trinity, all set against a green background representing the island’s forests, said the World Factbook.

Each color of the flag has its own meaning: yellow denotes sunshine, the island’s agricultural products, and the native Carib Indians; black symbolizes the fertile soil and African heritage of most citizens; white stands for the island’s rivers, waterfalls, and the purity of aspirations as well as Caucasian citizens.

Image: Ken Bosma, CC BY 2.0

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