Introduction
The flag of the Turks and Caicos Islands is a British Blue Ensign with a yellow shield in the fly bearing a queen conch shell, a spiny lobster and a Turks head cactus.
Meaning & Symbolism
All three charges come out of the sea and the sand. The conch and the lobster are the islands fisheries, and the Turks head cactus is what gives the territory half its name: the cactus has a red top that looks like a fez.
History of the Turks and Caicos Islands Flag
The arms were granted in 1965 and the flag adopted on 7 November 1968.
There is a well told story about the earlier badge. The salt piles drawn on it were rendered by a London artist who had never seen the islands, and he added doorways to them, turning the salt heaps into what looked like igloos. The current arms replaced that version.
Curiosities
- The Turks head cactus is named for its red crown, which looks like a fez, and it gives the islands half their name.
- An earlier badge showed salt piles that a London artist mistook for igloos and drew with doorways.
- The conch and the lobster are not decoration: both are still major exports.
- The islands took their present arms in 1965 and their flag in 1968.
- Caicos is thought to come from a Lucayan word for a string of islands.
Download Flag
Download the flag of Turks and Caicos Islands 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.