The national symbols of

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...

are the symbols that this

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

nation identifies with. The most recognizable national symbols of Saint Lucia are the

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

and the coat of arms.

Flag of St. Lucia

The national flag of Saint Lucia was adopted on March 1, 1967, upon achieving self-government. The flag was designed by Dunstan St. Omer. The government of St. Lucia gives the following description of the flag: The blue colour represent fidelity. It reflects the tropical sky and also the emerald surrounding waters of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The gold represents the prevailing sunshine in the Caribbean and prosperity. The triangles represent the mountains in St. Lucia. The Triangle, the shape of which is the partition isosceles triangle, is reminiscent of the island’s famous twin Pitons at Soufriere, rising sheer out of the sea, towards the sky -themselves, a symbol of the hope and aspirations of the people.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms of Saint Lucia was designed by Sydney Bagshaw in 1967. The coat of arms is made of a blue shield with a stool, two roses and two ''fleur de lis''. The shield is supported by two Saint Lucian parrots. Beneath the shield is the national motto, where as above the shield there is al torch and on ornament. The symbolism of the elements are: * Tudor rose - England *

Fleur de lis The ''fleur-de-lis'', also spelled ''fleur-de-lys'' (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a common heraldic charge in the ( stylized) shape of a lily (in French, and mean and respectively). Most notably, the ''fleur-de-lis ...

- France * Stool - Africa *

Torch A torch is a stick with combustible material at one end which can be used as a light source or to set something on fire. Torches have been used throughout history and are still used in processions, symbolic and religious events, and in juggl ...

- Beacon to light the path *Saint Lucia parrot - '' Amazona versicolor'', the national bird * Motto: "The land, the people, the light"

Anthem

The national anthem of Saint Lucia is Sons and Daughters of Saint Lucia. The anthem was first adopted in 1967 upon achieving self-government, and confirmed as the official anthem upon independence in 1979. The lyrics were written by Rev.Charles Jesse, and the music by Mr.Leton Thomas

Saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...
Lucian parrot

The Saint Lucia amazon (also known as the Saint Lucia parrot) (''Amazona versicolor'') is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

parrot Parrots (Psittaciformes), also known as psittacines (), are birds with a strong curved beak, upright stance, and clawed feet. They are classified in four families that contain roughly 410 species in 101 genus (biology), genera, found mostly in ...

in the family

Psittacidae The Family (biology), family Psittacidae or holotropical parrots is one of three families of true parrots. It comprises the 12 species of subfamily Psittacinae (the Afrotropics, Afrotropical parrots) and 167 of subfamily Arinae (the New World or ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

and is the country's national bird. It was first described by Miller in 1776, this beautiful parrot is, and always has been found only in Saint Lucia. It is predominantly green in colour, and a typical specimen has a cobalt blue forehead merging through turquoise to green on the cheeks and a scarlet breast. There are no visible differences between the two sexes. Mating for life and maturing after five years, these long-lived birds are cavity nesters, laying two to three white eggs in the hollow of a large tree during the onset of the dry season between February and April. Incubation commences on the appearance of the second egg and lasts 27 days. The young fledge leave the nest 67 days after hatching. Today the parrot, and most other forms of wildlife are absolutely protected in the country, because Saint Lucia’s national bird remains an endangered species.

National clothing

According to the government of Saint Lucia the national dress are the Wob Dwiyet and the

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

. The Wob Dwiyrt consists of the following: *A long petticoat made of cotton or satin and decorated with rows of lace and ribbon. *The Dwiyet – A full-length outer dress with a trail and narrow sleeves that extend to the wrists. *A Foulard – A scarf worn around the neck and shoulders with a triangular apex at the centre of the back and attached to the Dwiyet at the front with a brooch. This scarf is made of satin and is usually of a colour that contrasts with that of the dress. *The Tete Casé – A folded head piece which is decorated to suit the taste or status of the wearer. In addition, wearers of the Wob Dwiyet adorn themselves with a substantial amount of jewellery including long necklaces and large earrings. The Wob Dwiyet is a style of ladies' dress which began appearing in the French West Indies towards the end of the 18th century. Its design is believed to have originated from Southern France, where women at the time wore a similar outfit.

National flower, plant, and tree

The

rose A rose is either a woody perennial plant, perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred Rose species, species and Garden roses, tens of thousands of cultivar ...

and the marguerite are the symbols of the two flower societies of Saint Lucia. They emerged as winners of the National Flower Competition in September 1985. The national tree of Saint Lucia is

calabash Calabash (; ''Lagenaria siceraria''), also known as bottle gourd, white-flowered gourd, long melon, birdhouse gourd, New Guinea bean, New Guinea butter bean, Tasmania bean, and opo squash, is a vine grown for its fruit. It can be either harvest ...

, where as the national plant is

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

. File:Crescentia cujete (fruit and foilage).jpg, Calabash tree File:BambooKyoto.jpg, Bamboo tree File:Rosa Archiduc Joseph 1.jpg, Rose

References

External links

Code of Etiquette for the use of the National Flag of Saint Lucia

Protocol for the National Anthem of Saint Lucia

* Biographies available i
The Designers (Saint Lucia National Symbols)
{{National Symbols of Saint Lucia