South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands Flag

Introduction

The flag of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands is a blue ensign, which features the Union Jack in the upper left corner, charged with the official emblem.

The official insignia features a badge with a golden raging lion with a torch; the badge is held up by a macaroni penguin to the right and a fur seal to the left; there is a reindeer on top of the crown; under the badge on a roll is the slogan LEO TERRAM PROPRIAM PROTEGAT, which means “Let the Lion Protect its Own Land”. The field of the badge, white and blue estoiles, is seen in the symbol of James Cook, who found the archipelago. The external creatures holding the shield symbolize the indigenous creatures found in the archipelago. The lion holding the torch stands for the finding and the United Kingdom.

Protocol

The ensign is hoisted on top of the principal administrative establishments on the island of South Georgia, and the research areas of the British Antarctic Survey. The first ensign used a tinier edition of the official insignia demonstrated in a white circle. However, this was modified to the contemporary ensign between the period 1999 and 2002.

History

South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Flag was introduced on 3 October 1985, at the time of the formation of the dependency. Earlier, the dependency formed a portion of the Falkland Islands Territory and used the ensign of the Falkland Islands. In addition, there is another ensign to signify the Civil Commissioner of the Dependency, which is a Union Jack charged with the insignia. Since the Civil Commissioner is also the Governor of the Falkland Islands, it is hoisted only if the Commissioner is visiting the area. The first edition of the flag of the Civil Commissioner only exhibited the coat of arms, however, it was modified in 1999.