Flag of Dominica

How to read it

The flag was set by the National Emblems of Dominica Act (Act No. 18 of 1978), which the Governor, Sir Louis Cools-Lartigue, signed on 31 October 1978; it was published in the Gazette on 1 November and came into force on 3 November 1978, the day of independence, according to the Government Information Service. The same act made the coat of arms and the national flower official, the Ministry of Education’s note on the national symbols says. The government describes a red disc bearing a Sisserou parrot (Amazona imperialis) standing on a twig, ringed by ten lime-green stars, laid over three vertical and three horizontal stripes of yellow, black and white that form a cross on a forest-green field. Norway’s Store norske leksikon gives the proportions as 1:2, the flag twice as long as it is high, and says one flag serves every purpose, civil and state. The playwright Alwin Bully designed it in 1978.

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What each part stands for

The government’s description goes piece by piece. The parrot is the national bird and a symbol of flight toward greater heights; it comes from the coat of arms, so it also stands for the official seal of the country. The ten stars, “the traditional symbol of hope”, are the ten parishes, each with equal status, and so the equality of the people. The red disc is Dominica’s commitment to social justice.

The cross shows belief in God, since the Commonwealth of Dominica is founded on principles that acknowledge the supremacy of God, and its three colours are the Trinity. Yellow is the sunshine, the main crops of citrus and bananas, and the Carib and Arawak people, the first inhabitants of the island. White is the clear water of the rivers and waterfalls and the purity of the people’s aspiration. Black is the rich black soil the island’s farming depends on, and African heritage. The dark green background is the forest.

The Sisserou parrot

The bird is the imperial amazon, called the sisserou in Dominica, and it lives nowhere else. Global Voices reported in April 2026 that it is critically endangered, with 40 to 60 mature birds left in the wild. Besides the flag, the parrot is on the coat of arms, the public seal, the mace of the House of Assembly and Dominica’s honours, the Ministry of Education notes.

The designer

Alwin Bully founded Dominica’s Department of Culture, became its first director in 1978 and designed the flag that year, the Folk Research Centre in Saint Lucia writes. The government gave him the Sisserou Award of Honour in 1985 for the design. When he died in 2023, Prime Minister Skerrit said the flag “incorporated aspects of Dominica’s natural features, and the spirit character and values of our people”.

Flag Day

Dominica keeps a Flag Day (Journen Dwapo), started by the government’s Cultural Division as part of the independence celebrations; in 2012 it fell on 31 October. People are encouraged to fly the flag at offices, outside homes and on vehicles, the Government Information Service said that year.

Not the Dominican Republic’s flag

The Dominican Republic’s flag is also divided by a cross, but a plain white one, with two blue and two red rectangles: blue at the top by the pole and red beside it, red below by the pole and blue beside it, Store norske leksikon says. Its state flag carries the national arms in the centre of the cross. Dominica’s cross has three stripes, yellow, black and white, on green, and the parrot in its red disc sits where the arms would be.