(2:3)by Arnaud Leroy, 16 December 2004
Last modified: 2004-12-18 by dov gutterman
Keywords: netherlands antilles | nederlandse antillen | dutch realm | netherlands | antilles | st. eustatius | statia |
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(2:3)
by Arnaud Leroy, 16 December 2004
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I received a few days ago information from the St. Eustatius
Tourist Bureau:
"St.Eustatius is in the process of having it's own Flag and
Coat of Arms. The proceudure takes a very long time due to the
fact that different committee have to go through all
documentation and research the design and colours etc. We were
hoping to have all this done by November 16th which Statia Day,
but this will not maerialize until in 2001. Hoping to have inform
you accordingly."
Mark Sensen, 26 June 2000
The procedure to come to a flag and Coat of Arms for
St.Eustatius (started April 2000) still didn't lead to the
adoption of a flag and Coat of Arms.
Mark Sensen, 3 June 2001
International
Civic Arms shows St. Eustatius Coat of Arms adopted by the
island council in 2002. The Coat of Arms has a motto in Latin:
"SUPERBA ET CONFIDENS" meaning Proud and Confidence.
Nozomi Kariyasu and Ivan Sache, 10 May 2003
St. Eustatius seems still in the process of adopting a flag.
Mark Sensen, 14 January 2004
In the local newspaper (The Daily Herald) of 10
September 2004, it was reported that the Lt. Governor of St.
Eustatius (Netherlands Antilles) announced the new flag and
coat-of-arms of St. Eustatius. The flag was designed by Zuwena
Suares. The design of the coat-of-arms is by Walter Hellebrand.
The official presentation of both flag and coat-of-arms will be
on Statia day, 16 November.
Walter Hellebrand, 16 September 2004
The image of the coat-of-arms appears on International Civic
Arms and says the island council adopted it in 2002 not 2004.
Exactly this image was loaded down from anywhere in the web on
May, 2003.
Nozomi Kariyasu and J. Patrick Fischer, 17
September 2004
The flag was adopted in July and will be raised officially for
the first time on Statia Day (16 November).
Mark Sensen, 8 October 2004
Image of the new flag is based on <www.amigoe.com>,
located by Nadine Salas. Sint Eustatius will adopt its own flag,
coat of arms and hymn on 16 November 2004 (Statia Day, the Day of
Sint Eustatius). The new flag and coat of arms contain the
characteristic contours of the sleeping volcano-mountain: The
Quill. ("Quill" is from Dutch "kuil" = pit,
hole.) 16 November is an historical day for Sint Eustatius,
because it will then be 228 years ago that Fort Oranje was the
first to salute the flag of the United States with gunshots.
Jarig Bakker, 18 October 2004
Not a very clear view of the brand new Statia flag at
<www.amigoe.com>,
but a historic day for the island - the first official hoisting
of its flag!
Paraskevas Renesis, 19 November 2004
Here is the description of the flag of Sint Eustatius, as sent
in Dutch by Jos Poels and translated by me:
"Decision by the Island Council of Sint Eustatius of 29 Jul
2004. # 11.
Article 2 - Description of the flag: The flag is rectangular with
the colors blue, red, white, gold and green. Proportions of width
: length = 2:3. The flag is divided in four five-sided blue
squares, each fimbriated red. In flag center is a diamond-form
white field. In the diamond is the silhouette of the island in
green. In the center in the top of the diamond is a five-pointed
golden star."
Information provided by the Secretary of the Island Council.
Jarig Bakker, 26 November 2004
The image is divided into three parts; the past (Golden Rock),
present (Fort Oranje) and the future (angelfish). The golden rock
is the name given to the island when it was a very rich trading
post in the Carribean. Fort Oranje is the oldest building on the
island, and the centre of social life. At the fort the Dutch
government was the first to officially salute a US ship, thus the
first official recognition of that country. The fish symbolises
the rich nature and ecological heritage of the island. The nature
also attracts many visitors and is thus of importance for the
present and future of the island. Around the shield is a string
of blue beads, a historical curiosity of the island. Behind the
shield are two sugar cane stalks, symbolising the ancient sugar
plantations. The crown symbolises the 16 (former) forts on the
island. The motto Superba et confidens means Proud and Confident.
Rob Raeside, 16 September 2004
According to Ralf Hartemink's site the coat of arms was
already adopted in 2002: "These quite unheraldic 'arms' have
been adopted by the island council in 2002. The image is divided
into three parts; the past (Golden Rock), present (Fort Oranje)
and the future (angelfish). The golden rock is the name given to
the island when it was a very rich trading post in the Carribean.
Fort Oranje is the oldest building on the island, and the centre
of social life. At the fort the Dutch government was the first to
officially salute a US ship, thus the first official recognition
of that country. The fish symbolises the rich nature and
ecological heritage of the island. The nature also attracts many
visitors and is thus of importance for the present and future of
the island. Around the shield is a string of blue beads, a
historical curiosity of the island. Behind the shield are two
sugar cane stalks, symbolising the ancient sugar plantations. The
crown symbolises the 16 (former) forts on the island. The motto
Superba et confidens means Proud and Confident. The Hoge
Raad van Adel, the Dutch College of Arms, clearly did not agree
with the proposal, but has no official say in the Netherlands
Antilles.
Literature : Letter of explanation of the arms to the Hoge Raad
van Adel in Den Haag, the Netherlands."
Jarig Bakker, 19 October 2004
At the photo reported from <www.amigoe.com>,
there is also the Stars and Stripes (S&S).
Why do they fly the S&S? (And apparently in the honour
position, too, assuming this is deliberate).
André Coutanche, 19 November 2004
Because Sint Eustatius was the first place to salute the
American flag and to recognize it as the flag of a sovereign
state. An American merchantman called at Fort Oranje sometime
during 1775 or 1776, and the battery at the Fort fired athe
standard salute due to non - Dutch vessels entering a Dutch port.
I think we should try to ascertain whether the flying of the
S&S is official government policy (either local government or
that of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, either directly or
through that body which administers smaller overseas possessions
- the larger ones are virtually autonomous), or whether this is
merely local custom and usage which has become sanctioned over
time. It would also be interesting to know whether this flying of
the S&S has been continuous since the 18th Century, or
whether it has been re-introduced recently. I believe that the
island was occupied first by the French and then the British
during the Napoleonic Wars, and I can't imagine that any British
commander would have allowed the S&S to be flown during that
period, particularly since Britain and the US were at war with
each other for much of the time.
Ron Lahav, 19 November 2004
The Dutch flag has the honour position (it is the left one of
the two flags in the center), followed by the flag of the
Netherlands Antilles, Unites States and St.Eustatius
respectively.
The American ship was the "Andrea Doria", which was a
merchantman used as war ship, and the date was 16 November 1776.
(Nowadays 16 November is "Statia Day", and the flag of
St.Eustatius was hoisted for the first time at Statia Day this
year). About three weeks before, however, an American schooner
was saluted by the Danes from Fort Frederik at St.Croix. Both
were flying the "Grand Union Flag"
a.k.a. "Continental Colors". The Stars and Stripes was
first saluted by the French at the Bay of Quiberon (south coast
of Brittany) in 1777.
Mark Sensen, 20 November 2004
Just for the record the US navy use anglicized spelling of the
official name and the ship was Andrew Doria. Dictionary
of American Naval Fighting Ships report: "Capt. Isaiah
Robinson took command of Andrew Doria, and he took her down the
Delaware on 17 October for a voyage to the West Indies to obtain
a cargo of munitions and military supplies at St. Eustatius. When
she reached that Dutch island on 16 November, Andrew Doria fired
a salute of 11 guns and received a reply - the first salute to an
American flag on board an American warship in a foreign
port".
Painting of the ship at St. Eustatius (with the "Grand Union
Flag" as Mark said) can be seen at <www.history.navy.mil/andrew_doria-i.jpg>.
Dov Gutterman, 20 November 2004
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