Our Flag

You may want to salute

“Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it.”
George Bernard Shaw

St. Helena has its own flag, which is flown at all important events and occasions. It has been in use since 4^th October 1984.

Our current flag was granted by Royal Warrant, published in the St. Helena Government Gazette on 30^th January 1984.

In the top left is the British Union Flag (or Union Jack), showing that St. Helena is an overseas territory of Great Britain.

The background colour to the flag is deep blue{1}. All British territories use this colour, it being the blue of the Union Flag{2}.

Full government crest

In the centre right is our crest, extracted from the full government crest; this has two parts:

1. A caricature Wirebird, the national bird of St. Helena.

2. An illustration of a sailing ship outside rocky cliffs (presumably, Jamestown{3}), signifying the importance of St. Helena to shipping in days gone by.

The correct dimension of our flag are 2:1 - twice as long as it is high.

Curiously, the flag flown above The Castle, the seat of government in St. Helena, and from Signal House, at the top of Jacob’s Ladder is the Union Flag, not the Flag of St. Helena.

The French Tricolour flies at Longwood House, The Briars and Napoleon’s Tomb, because since 1858 these places have been property of the French Government.

Our flag is flown by the RMS St. Helena, and it is usually flown over the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London on St. Helena’s Day, 21^st May.

Until 1984 the flag of St. Helena looked like this:

The Governor of St. Helena has his own flag:

• • •

Protesters in Whitehall, London, in March 2009{4}

Footnotes:

{1} Formally: hex #00247D; RGB (0, 36, 125); Pantone (paper) 280C; CMYK 100.72.0.18.5

{2} this is the ‘Scottish’ part of the Union Flag, although St. Helena has no particular Scottish link over and above any other part of the UK

{3} the sharp-eyed may note that, if this is shown to scale, the ship must be some 800ft high, which would be quite remarkable indeed!

{4} The 2007-2010 Labour government ‘paused’ our Airport Project; the incoming 2010 Conservative/Libdem government re-started it

• Go to: Previous details index • Next details index • Detail pages index.

PLEASE NOTE: we actively encourage others to quote from this site. Please see our Important Information page for our requirements (“Copyright” section).

Saint Helena Island Info: Information about St. Helena from Moonbeams Limited • Our Flag • Copyright ©  Moonbeams Limited, v1413018895 • Site Index • Direct URL:

PS: St. Helena, Saint Helena or St Helena - it’s the same “most extraordinary place on earth”!