The Principality of Trinidad was a short-lived unrecognized state declared in 1893 when the American

James Harden-Hickey James Harden-Hickey (born James Aloysius Harden, December 8, 1854 – February 9, 1898) was a Franco-American author, newspaper editor, duellist, adventurer and self-proclaimed Prince of Trinidad, reigning as James I. Early life James Aloysius ...

claimed the uninhabited Trindade Island in the South Atlantic. He declared himself James I, Prince of Trinidad,Bryk, William
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, ''

New York Press ''New York Press'' was a free alternative weekly in New York City, which was published from 1988 to 2011. The ''Press'' strove to create a rivalry with the ''Village Voice''. ''Press'' editors claimed to have tried to hire away writer Nat Hento ...

'', v 15 no 50 (Dec 10, 2002) and intended for the islands to become a

military dictatorship A military dictatorship is a dictatorship in which the military exerts complete or substantial control over political authority, and the dictator is often a high-ranked military officer. The reverse situation is to have civilian control of the m ...

under his leadership. Britain and Brazil later argued over the territory, and it is now a part of the state of

Espírito Santo Espírito Santo (, , ; ) is a state in southeastern Brazil. Its capital is Vitória, and its largest city is Serra. With an extensive coastline, the state hosts some of the country's main ports, and its beaches are significant tourist attra ...

in southeastern Brazil.Flags of the World - Trindade and Martins Vaz Islands (Brazil)
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Name

The original name of the island, ''Trindade'', is Portuguese for "

trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...

"; ''Trinidad'' is the Spanish

cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words in different languages that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymology, etymological ancestor in a proto-language, common parent language. Because language c ...

. It is unclear why Harden-Hickley chose to translate the name from Portuguese into Spanish, and not English. Earlier, nearby

Ascension Island Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island, 7°56′ south of the Equator in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is about from the coast of Africa and from the coast of South America. It is governed as part of the British Overseas Territory o ...

had been renamed from its original Portuguese name ''Ascensão'' when it passed into British hands.

History

While traveling to

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

before his marriage, Harden-Hickey noticed the tiny island of Trindade in the South Atlantic Ocean, which had never been claimed by any country and was, legally, ''

terra nullius ''Terra nullius'' (, plural ''terrae nullius'') is a Latin expression meaning " nobody's land". It was a principle sometimes used in international law to justify claims that territory may be acquired by a state's occupation of it. : : ...

''. In 1893, wanting an independent state where he could serve as its ruler, he claimed the island and proclaimed himself James I, the Prince of Trinidad. Stamp of the Principality of Trinidad 1893 5f

Stamp of the Principality of Trinidad 1893 5f

He designed postage stamps, a national flag and

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

, and established a

chivalric order An order of chivalry, order of knighthood, chivalric order, or equestrian order is an order of knights, typically founded during or inspired by the original Catholic military orders of the Crusades ( 1099–1291) and paired with medieval concep ...

, the Cross of Trinidad. He bought a

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

to transport colonists, appointed M. Le Comte De la Boissiere as Secretary of State, and opened a consular office at 217 West 36th Street in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He issued

government bond A government bond or sovereign bond is a form of bond issued by a government to support public spending. It generally includes a commitment to pay periodic interest, called coupon payments'','' and to repay the face value on the maturity date ...

s to finance the construction of infrastructure on the island. In July 1895, the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

tried to take possession of the island, basing their claim on the 1700 visit by English astronomer

Edmund Halley Edmond (or Edmund) Halley (; – ) was an English astronomer, mathematician and physicist. He was the second Astronomer Royal in Britain, succeeding John Flamsteed in 1720. From an observatory he constructed on Saint Helena in 1676–77, Ha ...

. The British planned to use the island as a telegraph cable station. However, Brazilian diplomatic efforts pressed a successful claim to Brazilian sovereignty, based on the island's discovery in 1502 by Portuguese navigators. To demonstrate sovereignty over the island, the state of Espírito Santo, which took the island, built a landmark on 24 January 1897.

Today

Today, Brazil marks its presence with a permanent

Brazilian Navy ) , colors= Blue and white , colors_label= Colors , march= "Cisne Branco" ( en, "White Swan") (same name as training ship ''Cisne Branco'' , mascot= , equipment= 1 multipurpose aircraft carrier7 submarines6 frigates2 corvettes4 amphibious warf ...

base on the main island.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trinidad, Principality Of Former unrecognized countries Former principalities Former monarchies of South America Micronations States and territories established in 1893 1893 establishments in South America 1895 disestablishments Modern history of Brazil Espírito Santo