Jamaica

Jamaica
Adopted	August 6, 1962
Designed by	Jamaican House of Representatives
Proportions	1:2

The flag of Jamaica is a saltire design with a gold saltire, green upper and lower triangles, and black left and right triangles. It is also the only flag without red, white, or blue, since Mauritania changed its flag in 2017.

Symbolism

The green, gold, and black are the colors of some African countries, of which many Jamaicans' ancestors came from. Black represents the hardship of the Jamaicans struggling for independence, green represents the land of Jamaica, and gold represents the sun.

Colour	Preview	Hex	RGB	Pantone
Green		#007749	0, 119, 73	1235 C
Gold		#FFB71C	255, 184, 28	3415 C
Black		#2D2926	45, 41, 38	Black C

History

1875–1906

1906–1957

1957-1962

West Indies Federation (1958-1962)

1962

1962-present

Proposals

Prior to Jamaican independence, the Government of Jamaica hosted a flag competition for the new Jamaican flag after independence. Over 360 designs were submitted, and several designs are housed in the national Library of Jamaica. However, the competition failed to yield a winner, and a bipartisan committee of the Jamaican House of Representatives came up with the modern design. It was originally designed with five horizontal stripes, but it looked too similar to the flag of Tanganyika, and so the saltire was substituted. John McGhie claims that the design was influenced by the Scottish Saltire.

Nickname

• Green, Gold, and Black
• The Cross

Trivia

• The flag of Jamaica is currently the only national flag without red, white or blue.

See also

• Jamaica/Royal Standard
• Jamaica/Governor-General
• Jamaica/Prime Minister

References

Featured Article	Jamaica
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