The flag of the United States Virgin Islands was adopted on May 17, 1921. It consists of a simplified version of the coat of arms of the United States between the letters V and I (for 'Virgin Islands'). The yellow-colored eagle holds a sprig of laurel in one talon, which symbolizes victory, and three blue arrows in the other (unlike the thirteen arrows in the US coat of arms), which represent the three major islands that make up the

U.S. Virgin Islands The United States Virgin Islands,. Also called the ''American Virgin Islands'' and the ''U.S. Virgin Islands''. officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and an unincorporated and organized territory ...

: Saint Croix, Saint Thomas, and Saint John. When the Virgin Islands were owned by Denmark, the flag was a blue ensign with the Danish flag, or ''Dannebrog'' ('cloth of the Danes'), in the

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ent ...

History

Prior to

Transfer Day Transfer Day is a holiday celebrated in the U.S. Virgin Islands on March 31. It marks the transfer of the islands from Denmark to the United States that took place in 1917. The islands were initially held by various European countries, and were un ...

1917, the Danish colonial administration used a simple flag modeled on the blue ensign with the

flag of Denmark The national flag of Denmark ( da, Dannebrog, ) is red with a white Nordic cross, which means that the cross extends to the edges of the flag and the vertical part of the cross is shifted to the hoist side. A banner with a white-on-red cross is ...

in its canton. The Danish flag is popularly said to have fallen from the sky during a 1219 battle of the Danish king

Valdemar II Valdemar (28 June 1170 – 28 March 1241), later remembered as Valdemar the Victorious (), was the King of Denmark (being Valdemar II) from 1202 until his death in 1241. Background He was the second son of King Valdemar I of Denmark and Sophi ...

during the Livonian Crusade against the Estonians. The Nordic Cross on the flag represents Christianity. The idea of a U.S. Virgin Islands flag began with the administration of Rear Admiral Sumner Ely Wetmore Kittelle, who was sworn in as governor of the islands on April 26, 1921. He approached Mr. White, captain of the ''Grebe'', and Percival Wilson Sparks, a cartoonist, and asked them for suggestions for a flag design. Sparks immediately drew a design on paper. Afterwards, Sparks transferred it on heavy cotton material, then asked his wife Grace and her sister Blanche Joseph to embroider the design. The later result was what became the United States Virgin Islands flag.

Transfer Day

commemorates the transfer of sovereignty over the islands from Denmark to the United States, which was first marked at an official ceremony in 1917 by the lowering of the Danish flag and the raising of the American flag in Charlotte Amalie. The United States had bought the Virgin Islands from Denmark for $25 million, which eventually meant changing the flag to represent the United States.

References

External links

CIA - The World Factbook - Virgin Islands

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Virgin Islands, United States, Flag of Flags introduced in 1921 Flags of the insular areas of the United States

Flag A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design empl ...

1921 establishments in the United States Virgin Islands United States Virgin Islands

History

Transfer Day

See also

References

Further reading

External links