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Guyana - Historical Flags - Part 1

Last modified: 2005-04-16 by dov gutterman
Keywords: guyana | demerara | essequibo | berbice | ship | british guyana |
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Early History

Originally "Dutch Guiana" consisted of four colonies (from west to east): Essequibo, Demerara, Berbice, and Suriname. The three first became British in 1814 and some years later they were united into one colony: British Guiana. They were occupied already earlier by the British (to keep it from the French, approved by the Prince of Orange in exile), like the Suriname, the Antilles and East Indies, who became Dutch again, and Ceylon and the Cape, who remained British.
Mark Sensen, 6 May 1998


Overview

A coastal scene with one or more ships was often part of the seal of a British colony in the latter part of the 19th century, and this was used as the badge of the colony if there was no obvious local emblem. Although the British Guiana badge is unique in having just one ship and no coastline, it is unlikely that the drawing was meant to represent any particular ship.
The ship in the original circular badge of 1875 is different from the ship in the oval badge enclosed in a yellow garter of 1906, which is different again from the badge that was taken from the arms granted in 1954. The 1906 badge had been criticised for having a number of nautical anomalies, and in 1953 the Colonial Office asked the Admiralty for help in ensuring that the arms were correct from a seaman's point of view. If the badge had been meant to represent a particular ship I'm sure it would have b