Flag of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands

What the flag looks like

The flag follows the pattern of a British Blue Ensign. The field is dark blue, the Union Jack fills the upper hoist corner, and the territory's coat of arms stands in the fly. The flag has a ratio of 1:2. The arms carry the Latin motto Leo terram propriam protegat, which means “Let the lion protect its own land”.

The Union Jack gives the flag its red, white and blue, while the arms add the wildlife and Antarctic setting. A close relative is the flag of the neighboring Falkland Islands, which is also a Blue Ensign with a local badge.

Which flag is official here?

South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands is a British Overseas Territory in the South Atlantic. The Union Jack is the official national flag of the United Kingdom and is flown on the islands, and the Blue Ensign with the territory's arms is the territory's own flag. It flies over the main government settlements on South Georgia and the scientific bases of the British Antarctic Survey. Argentina also claims the islands, which the United Kingdom does not accept. The page shows the Blue Ensign because it is the flag specific to the territory.

Meaning and symbolism

The Union Jack shows the link with the United Kingdom, and the blue field is the usual color of ensigns that are flown by British overseas territories. In the arms, the lion represents Britain and the torch represents exploration, while the reindeer, seal and penguin are animals local to the islands.

History of the flag

Captain James Cook landed on South Georgia in 1775 and claimed it for Britain, naming it for King George III. South Georgia then became a base for whaling and sealing. Until 1985, the islands were administered as a dependency of the Falkland Islands and used the same flag as the Falkland Islands. The territory was created as a separate one in 1985, and its flag was granted on 3 October 1985.

The original flag showed a smaller version of the arms in a white disc. The arms themselves were granted by royal warrant on 14 February 1992, and the current flag, showing the arms in full without the disc, was later approved and recorded at the College of Arms. The territory has no permanent population: only a small number of officials and researchers live there, based at King Edward Point and the research stations of the British Antarctic Survey.