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 A coat typically is an outer garment for the upper body as worn by either gender for warmth or fashion. Coats typically have long sleeves and are open down the front and closing by means of buttons, zippers, hook-and-loop fasteners, toggles, a ...

between the letters V and I (for 'Virgin Islands'). The yellow-colored eagle holds a sprig of

laurel Laurel may refer to: Plants * Lauraceae, the laurel family * Laurel (plant), including a list of trees and plants known as laurel People * Laurel (given name), people with the given name * Laurel (surname), people with the surname * Laurel (mus ...

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: Saint Croix, Saint Thomas, and Saint John. When the Virgin Islands were owned by

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

, the flag was a blue ensign with the Danish flag, or ''Dannebrog'' ('cloth of the Danes'), in the canton.

History

Prior to Transfer Day 1917, the Danish colonial administration used a simple flag modeled on the

blue ensign The Blue Ensign is a flag, one of several British ensigns, used by certain organisations or territories associated or formerly associated with the United Kingdom. It is used either plain or defaced with a badge or other emblem. The ev ...

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 Soph ...

during the

Livonian Crusade The Livonian crusade refers to the various military Christianisation campaigns in medieval Livonia – in what is now Latvia and Estonia – during the Papal -sanctioned Northern Crusades in the 12–13th century. The Livonian crusade was cond ...

against the

Estonians Estonians or Estonian people ( et, eestlased) are a Finnic ethnic group native to Estonia who speak the Estonian language. The Estonian language is spoken as the first language by the vast majority of Estonians; it is closely related to other ...

. The

Nordic Cross A Nordic cross flag is a flag bearing the design of the Nordic or Scandinavian cross, a cross symbol in a rectangular field, with the centre of the cross shifted towards the hoist. All independent Nordic countries have adopted such flags in t ...

on the flag represents

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

. The idea of a U.S. Virgin Islands flag began with the administration of Rear Admiral

Sumner Ely Wetmore Kittelle Sumner Ely Wetmore Kittelle (June 14, 1867 – December 29, 1950) was a rear admiral in the United States Navy and a veteran of the Spanish–American War and World War I. He was also the third military Governor of the United States Virgin Islands. ...

, 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

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 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 ...

History

Transfer Day

See also

References

Further reading

External links