Flag of the British Antarctic Territory

British overseas territory flag

Flag of the British Antarctic Territory

Flag of the British Antarctic Territory
Use| Civil and state flag
Proportion| 1:2
Adopted| 21 April 1998
Design| A white ensign with the Union flag in the top left hand corner and the coat of arms of the British Antarctic Territory centre-right.

The flag of the British Antarctic Territory was granted on 21 April 1998.[1] It features the coat of arms granted on 1 August 1963, a year after the British Antarctic Territory, a British Overseas Territory, was created. Previously, the Territory was a part of the Falkland Islands Dependencies and used the same flag.[2] On 30 May 1969, a blue ensign with the British Antarctic Territory coat of arms in the fly was introduced as a government ensign.[3]

## Description

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The flag is a white ensign, without a cross, with the Union Flag in the canton, defaced with the coat of arms of the British Antarctic Territory, introduced in 1952. The coat of arms features a lion, representing the United Kingdom, and a penguin, representing the native wildlife. The crest of the coat of arms is the RRS Discovery, which first took Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton to Antarctica as part of the British National Antarctic Expedition in 1901. She is currently a museum ship in Dundee. The motto on the coat of arms is "Research and Discovery".[1]

The official description is as follows:

> Arms: Per fess wavy barry, wavy of six Argent and Azure, and Argent on a Pile Gules, a Torch enflamed proper.

> Supporters: In Dexter a Lion Or and in Sinister an Emperor Penguin proper upon a compartment divided per pale and representing in Dexter a grassy Mount and in Sinister an ice Floe. Motto: Research and Discovery.

> This coat of arms was transferred to the B.A.T. on 1 August 1963, with the addition of helm, crest and mantling:

> Mantling: in Dexter Or doubled Gules and in Sinister Argent doubled Azure. Crest: Upon a Wreath of the colours of the Mantling a representation of the research Ship Discovery.

## Use and related flags

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Flag flying over the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London, 2019

The flag flies over the British research stations in the Territory and at the headquarters of the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge.[4] Vessels of the British Antarctic Survey use a blue ensign defaced with the shield from the coat of arms, which can be seen below. This ensign was introduced by Royal Warrant on 30 May 1969.[1] The flag of the Commissioner for the British Antarctic Territory, a position currently held by Ben Merrick, is also seen below.

The flag is the only flag of any British dependency to have ever used the white ensign.

## Other images

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* Government Ensign of the British Antarctic Territory

* Flag of the Commissioner for the British Antarctic Territory

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c "British Antarctic Territory". CRW Flags. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
2. ^ "British Antarctic Territory". Flagmakers. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
3. ^ Martinez, Peter (1999). "Proc. XVII International Congress of Vexillology" (PDF). Proc. XVII International Congress of Vexillology: 233–237 – via www.fiav.com.
4. ^ "British Antarctic Territory National Flag". Flying Colours Flagmakers. Archived from the original on 16 January 2017. Retrieved 14 January 2017.

## See also

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* List of flags of the United Kingdom

* v
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* e

Flags of Antarctica

Current|

* Adélie Land
* Argentine Antarctica
* Australian Antarctic Territory
* British Antarctic Territory
* Chilean Antarctica
* Ross Dependency
* Queen Maud Land/Peter I Island

Former|

* New Swabia

* v
* t
* e

Flags of the British Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies

British Overseas Territories|

* Akrotiri and Dhekelia
* Anguilla
* Bermuda
* British Antarctic Territory
* British Indian Ocean Territory
* British Virgin Islands
* Cayman Islands
* Falkland Islands
* Gibraltar
* Montserrat
* Pitcairn Islands
* Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
* Saint Helena
* Ascension
* Tristan da Cunha
* South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
* Turks and Caicos Islands

Crown Dependencies|

* Guernsey
* Alderney
* Herm
* Sark
* Jersey
* Isle of Man

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* e

National, regional and city flags incorporating the Union Jack

Sovereign states|

* Australia
* Fiji
* New Zealand
* Tuvalu
* United Kingdom

Dependent territories|

| United Kingdom|

* Anguilla
* Ascension Island
* Bermuda
* British Antarctic Territory
* British Indian Ocean Territory
* British Virgin Islands
* Cayman Islands
* Falkland Islands
* Montserrat
* Pitcairn Islands
* Saint Helena
* South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
* Tristan da Cunha
* Turks and Caicos Islands

|

New Zealand|

* Cook Islands
* Niue

States, provinces
and other
administrative divisions|

| Australian states|

* New South Wales
* Queensland
* South Australia
* Tasmania
* Victoria
* Western Australia

|

Canadian provinces|

* British Columbia
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US states|

* Hawaii

US counties|

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* Westmoreland County

Cities|

| Chile|

* Coquimbo

|

United States|

* Baton Rouge, Louisiana
* Mobile, Alabama
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Miscellaneous|

* List of Australian flags
* List of British flags
* List of New Zealand flags
* British Empire
* George Rex Flag
* Flags inspired by the Union Jack
* Basque Country
* Lord Howe Island
* Newfoundland & Labrador
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Historical|

| Dominions
and independent states|

* Canada (1868–1965)
* Newfoundland (1907–1931)
* Rhodesia (1964–1968)
* South Africa (1910–1928)
* South Africa (1928–1994)
* United States (1776–1777)

|

Australian
external territories|

* New Guinea (1921–1971)
* Papua (1884–1971)

New Zealand mandate
and trust territory|

* Western Samoa (1925–1948)

Anglo-French
condominium|

* New Hebrides (1906–1980)

Other flags|

* Aden (1937–1963)
* British Cameroon (1922–1961)
* British Leeward Islands (1871–1958)
* British Somaliland (1903–1960)
* British South Africa Company (1892–1965)
* British Windward Islands (1886–1958)
* Burma (1939–1948)
* Cyprus (1881–1960)
* East India Company (1600–1858)
* Gilbert and Ellice Islands (1937–1976)
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* Hong Kong (1871–1997)
* India (1880–1947)
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* Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla (1958–1967)
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* Southern Rhodesia (1924–1964)
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