Flag of Barbados

Barbados

The Broken Trident
Use	National flag, civil and state ensign
Proportion	2:3
Adopted	30 November 1966; 57 years ago (1966-11-30)
Design	A vertical triband of ultramarine (hoist-side and fly-side) and gold with the black trident-head centred on the gold band.
Designed by	Grantley W. Prescod
Use	Naval ensign
Proportion	1:2
Design	A red cross on a white field, the national flag in the canton

The flag of Barbados was designed by Grantley W. Prescod and was officially adopted to represent the nation of Barbados at midnight on 30 November 1966, the day the country gained independence. The flag was chosen as part of a nationwide open contest held by the government, with Prescod's design being selected as the winner of a field of over one thousand entries. The flag is a triband design, with the outermost stripes coloured ultramarine, to represent the sea and the sky, and the middle stripe coloured gold, to represent the sand. Within the middle band is displayed the head of a trident. This trident is meant to represent the trident of Poseidon, visible in Barbados's colonial coat of arms, and the fact that it is broken is meant to represent the breaking of colonial rule in Barbados and independence from the British Empire.

After Prescod's design was selected as the winner of the contest, he was asked to make several flags as a personal request from Errol Barrow, the nation's first prime minister. Prescod constructed seven flags out of fabrics purchased from a department store. The flag was raised for the first time in a ceremony by Lieutenant Hartley Dottin of the Barbados Regiment. From its independence in 1966, Barbados also had a royal standard for Queen Elizabeth II and a standard for the governor-general, though these flags were retired in 2021 after Barbados officially became a republic. In their place, the use of a presidential standard began in 2021.