Flag of Belize

What the flag of Belize looks like

The flag of Belize has a royal blue field with a red stripe along the top edge and another along the bottom edge. In the middle is a white disc that holds the national coat of arms, ringed by a green wreath of leaves. The proportions are 3:5.

The coat of arms, granted in 1907, has a shield with tools of the timber trade, such as paddles, axes and a saw, in its upper sections and a sailing ship in the lower one. On either side of the shield stands a woodcutter, one holding an axe and the other a paddle. Above the shield is a mahogany tree, and below it a scroll with the national motto in Latin, Sub umbra floreo, meaning "under the shade I flourish". The wreath has 50 leaves.

The flag incorporates 19 different colors and shades, which makes it one of the most colorful national flags in the world. Compare the plain version in the Belize flag emoji.

Belize flag meaning and symbolism

The two woodcutters represent the people of Belize and the importance of logging in its history. They are usually described as men of different backgrounds, one of African descent and the other a mestizo, showing the unity of the different peoples of the country. The tools on the shield refer to the same industry, and the ship to trade and the sea. The mahogany tree, the national tree, stands for the country's forests.

The motto Sub umbra floreo means "under the shade I flourish". The 50 leaves of the wreath recall 1950, the year the People's United Party came to power.

The colors are explained mostly through politics. Blue and red are the colors of Belize's two main parties, the People's United Party (blue) and the United Democratic Party (red), and the red stripes were added at independence to denote the colour of the opposition party. The United Democratic Party, founded in 1973, had objected to the original blue-and-white design, because those colors were the PUP's.

History of the Belize flag

Belize was a British settlement for centuries and was named the colony of British Honduras in 1862. Its flag was the British Blue Ensign with a badge that showed a ship, a mahogany tree and the tools of the timber trade, with the motto "Sub umbra floreo".

From 1950 an unofficial national flag was in use: blue, with the coat of arms on a white disc in the center. Self-government came in 1964, and the colony was renamed Belize in 1973. For independence in 1981 a design competition was held. The winning design, known as the "Flag of Unity", was by two government officials, Everal Waight and Inez Sanchez. It first had a red border on all four sides, which was reduced to red stripes at the top and bottom before the flag was adopted on 21 September 1981.

The flag has kept this design since independence, and 21 September is celebrated as Independence Day. Until 2019 there were no standardized specifications, and a standardization process began that year with the consent of both parties.

Interesting facts about the Belize flag

• Belize is one of the very few countries whose flag shows human figures, in the form of the two men holding the coat of arms.
• A tattered Belize flag was found in the ruins of the World Trade Center after the September 11 attacks and is now kept in the Museum of Belize.
• It has been in use since independence in 1981.

Belize has Guatemala and Mexico as its neighbors. Browse the flags of the world to compare it with other designs.