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Turks and Caicos

by by Martin Grieve, 22 June 2004

Official Name: Turks and Caicos Islands
Capital: Grand Turk (Cockburn Town)
Location: Two Groups of Islands in the North Atlantic Ocean
Government Type: British Overseas Territory with Internal Self-Government
Flag adopted: 1999 (first adopted - 7 November 1968)
Coat of arms adopted: 28 September 1965
ISO Code: TC

Overview
Presentation of Turks and Caicos
The Red Ensign
Governor's Flag
Coat of Arms

See also:

Overview

According to a book of W. Crampton's, the arms depict a conch, a crayfish and a cactus.
Joan-Francois Blanc, 13 November 1996

The lobster (or whatever is it in upper fly part of the shield) is light blue, as it is in N.Smith's 'FOTW'. In W.Smith's book it is multicoloured. On some pictures there is a helmet over the shield. The ratio is in N.Smith's book aprox. 5:9 that seems to me quite unusual, and I am readier to accept 1:2, as I found in several other places.
Željko Heimer, 11 February 1996

The charges on the shield are a Queen conch shell, a spiny lobster and a Turk's Head cactus. The shield is supported by two flamingoes, and has as its crest a pelican between two sisal plants.
James Dignan, 22 November 1995

I noticed that theres an authorization for use of the blue ensign dated 7 November 1958. The blue ensign in 1958 looks too much the Historical Flag of 1875, only changed apparently with the badge improvements. Was always in use from c. 1875 to 1958, or perhaps was a interruption before 1958?
Jaume Olle', 8 July 2003

There is an error of ten years. Defacement of the Blue Ensign with the shield of the arms that were granted on 28 September 1965 received Royal approval through the College of Arms. Recorded at College of Arms in "Standards" Volume 3, page 113; 7 November 1968.
Whilst checking this I found that the Union Jack defaced with the Turks & Caicos 1875 badge was cancelled 22 September 1923. [National Archives (PRO) ADM 116/1847B].
It is not known when the Union Jack defaced with the present badge came into use. Probably 1973 when the Bahamas became independent and the Turks & Caicos Administrator was up-graded to Governor.
David Prothero, 9 July 2003

I had a look at some flag books which show the Turks and Caicos full achievement of arms - and most are inadequate!
The biggest error they have in common being the blue spiny lobster. We have mentioned before, that one flag book copies another thus leading to a duplication of errors, and this may well be the case here. The shield from the Turks and Caicos' coat of arms (adopted 1965) should be the badge emblazoned on her blue ensign.
I contacted David Prothero and asked if he could supply me with an accurate scan of the badge. David sent the version from BR20 - change 8. The badge is in agreement with the one shown in Album 2000 with a few minor differences - the most notable being the Turks head cactus which is positioned in the bottom of the shield. The present flag of the Turks and Caicos Islands would seem to have been altered ca1999 - when the badge height was increased to approximately 1/2 of the hoist width.
Martin Grieve, 21 June 2004

The official Government sites are at <www.turksandcaicos.tc/Government>, although, please note the coat of arms adjacent to the Finance Department's entry on this page!
Also, another useful source of information on United Kingdom Overseas Territories (the T&C site refers to itself as a "British Crown Colony") is the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) web site, which contains a series of country profiles, featuring their respective flags.
Colin Dobson, 23 June 2004

Why does the version now shown in the current and previous Editions of BR20 have a white fimbriation around the shield when this is totally unnecessary and against the heraldic code (metal against metal)?
I first thought that it was in the interests of consistency, but neither the shield on the flag of Bermuda, nor that on the flag of Anguilla show such a thing.
Christopher Southworth, 25 February 2005

Presentation of the Turks and Caicos Islands

Under British rule in 1766. 1804 - Turks Islands ruled by Jamaica. 1848 - Caicos Islands joined the Turks Islands in a separated administrative territory of Jamaica. 1962 - Separated from Jamaica (independent) and administered from the Bahamas. The arms were granted in 1965, after the separation from Jamaica. The flag is use since 1968. In 1973 Turks and Caicos became a distinct colony as Bahamas became independent.
Joan-Francois Blanc, 13 November 1996

The administrative sequence was:
Until 1959 the T&C were a dependency of Jamaica; in 1959 the T&C became a separate colony but until 1962 the Governor of Jamaica was also the Governor of T&C. Between 1962 and 1965 the Administrator of the T&C reported directly to London. Between 1965 and 1973 the Administrator was subordinate to the Governor of the Bahamas who was also Governor of the T&C. In 1973 when Bahamas became independent the Administrator was up-graded to Governor.
David Prothero, 30 July 1997

Turks/Caicos and the Cayman Islands were dependencies of Jamaica. Turks had its own badge based on the Seal of the colony from 1875 until 1958 when it was replaced by the current shield
David Prothero, 22 November 1999

The Red Ensign

by by Martin Grieve, 22 June 2004

The Flag Institute list a Red Ensign for the Turks and Caicos Islands as being official, and it is shown in (the shortly to be replaced) current Edition of /BR20 (Page 5;137, Change No. 5 drawn by Graham Bartram). however, I have been unable to find any legislation formally adopting it.
BR20 (Flags of All Nations) is the nearest thing we have in the UK to an "official guide".
Christopher Southworth, 21 June 2001

Governor's Flag

by Martin Grieve, 26 June 2004

Governor's flag since 1999. Album depicts this and shows the shield's points touching the garaland and blue ribbon.
Martin Grieve, 26 June 2004

It is the badge surrounded by the garland on Union Jack.
Paige Herring, 25 April 2004

Coat of Arms

from Ralf Hartemink site

Badge detail - adopted 1968
by Martin Grieve, 22 June 2004

The crest of the Turks & Caicos Islands is a pelican between two sisal plants representing connection to the rope industry.
Nahum Shereshevsky, 31 May 1997

The circular badge on the first flag was introduced sometime before 1904. The arms were granted 28 September 1965 and the shield from the arms replaced the circular badge on the flag in 1968.
David Prothero, 30 July 1997

While the term coat of arms is applied to the full achievement (in this case, shield, helmet, mantling, crest and supporters), in sensu strictu the term applies to the shield only. (This is explained at length in Armoria). So it is correct to say that the arms are displayed on the Blue Ensign. I should mention that the plant in base is a turk's head cactus, so called because its red fruit (or possibly its flower) resembles a red fez or tarboosh sitting on top of a human head, as you can see in the shield of the arms, although far less clearly on the flag.
Mike Oettle, 23 May 2004

This is one of the problems as the shield on the flag, and for that matter, the enlarged detail shown at the official Government sites at <www.turksandcaicos.tc/Government> differ from the shield from the full achievement of arms which I would expect to be the exact same as the badge depicted on the flag. The Conch shell is all pink on the drawing of the shield, as opposed to white with pink "patches" shown on the coat of arms. Album 2000 shows the enlarged detail of the shield, and this corresponds more closely with the shield from the arms. It could just be the case of course, that the Turks and Caicos Islands have modified their arms at some point, but I could not verify this.
Martin Grieve, 23 June 2004