Introduction
The flag of Bermuda is a British Red Ensign: the Union Jack in the canton and the coat of arms of Bermuda in the fly.
The arms show a red lion holding a shield with a shipwreck, the wreck of the Sea Venture.
Meaning & Symbolism
The wreck is the founding of the colony. In 1609 the Sea Venture, bound for Virginia, ran aground on the reefs and the survivors settled the islands. Bermuda puts its own shipwreck on its flag.
The red lion is England, holding the shield rather than standing on it.
History of the Bermuda Flag
The red ensign was adopted on 4 October 1910, and in 1999 the arms were enlarged to their present size.
Bermuda is unusual among British Overseas Territories in flying a red ensign on land. Almost all the others use a blue ensign ashore and reserve the red for merchant shipping.
Curiosities
- The shield shows the wreck of the Sea Venture, which ran aground in 1609 and founded the colony by accident.
- Bermuda is the rare British Overseas Territory that flies a red ensign on land rather than a blue one.
- The arms were made larger in 1999 because the original version was hard to read at a distance.
- The lion is English, but it holds the shield instead of standing behind it.
- The survivors of the 1609 wreck were on their way to Virginia, not to Bermuda.
Download Flag
Download the flag of Bermuda in high-quality SVG vector format or PNG raster images. SVG files can be scaled to any size without losing quality.
Digital icon artwork; its proportions may differ from the official flag proportions listed on this page.