^{This page is part of © FOTW Flags Of The World website}

St. Eustatius (Netherlands Antilles)

(2:3)
image by Arnaud Leroy, 16 December 2004

Overview
Coat of Arms
The Star and Stripes in St. Eustatius

See also:

Overview

I received a few days ago information from the St. Eustatius Tourist Bureau:
"St.Eustatius is in the process of having it's own Flag and Coat of Arms. The proceudure takes a very long time due to the fact that different committee have to go through all documentation and research the design and colours etc. We were hoping to have all this done by November 16th which Statia Day, but this will not maerialize until in 2001. Hoping to have inform you accordingly."
Mark Sensen, 26 June 2000

The procedure to come to a flag and Coat of Arms for St.Eustatius (started April 2000) still didn't lead to the adoption of a flag and Coat of Arms.
Mark Sensen, 3 June 2001

International Civic Arms shows St. Eustatius Coat of Arms adopted by the island council in 2002. The Coat of Arms has a motto in Latin: "SUPERBA ET CONFIDENS" meaning Proud and Confidence.
Nozomi Kariyasu and Ivan Sache, 10 May 2003

St. Eustatius seems still in the process of adopting a flag.
Mark Sensen, 14 January 2004

In the local newspaper (The Daily Herald) of 10 September 2004, it was reported that the Lt. Governor of St. Eustatius (Netherlands Antilles) announced the new flag and coat-of-arms of St. Eustatius. The flag was designed by Zuwena Suares. The design of the coat-of-arms is by Walter Hellebrand. The official presentation of both flag and coat-of-arms will be on Statia day, 16 November.
Walter Hellebrand, 16 September 2004

The image of the coat-of-arms appears on International Civic Arms and says the island council adopted it in 2002 not 2004. Exactly this image was loaded down from anywhere in the web on May, 2003.
Nozomi Kariyasu and J. Patrick Fischer, 17 September 2004

The flag was adopted in July and will be raised officially for the first time on Statia Day (16 November).
Mark Sensen, 8 October 2004

Image of the new flag is based on <www.amigoe.com>, located by Nadine Salas. Sint Eustatius will adopt its own flag, coat of arms and hymn on 16 November 2004 (Statia Day, the Day of Sint Eustatius). The new flag and coat of arms contain the characteristic contours of the sleeping volcano-mountain: The Quill. ("Quill" is from Dutch "kuil" = pit, hole.) 16 November is an historical day for Sint Eustatius, because it will then be 228 years ago that Fort Oranje was the first to salute the flag of the United States with gunshots.
Jarig Bakker, 18 October 2004

Not a very clear view of the brand new Statia flag at <www.amigoe.com>, but a historic day for the island - the first official hoisting of its flag!
Paraskevas Renesis, 19 November 2004

Here is the description of the flag of Sint Eustatius, as sent in Dutch by Jos Poels and translated by me:
"Decision by the Island Council of Sint Eustatius of 29 Jul 2004. # 11.
Article 2 - Description of the flag: The flag is rectangular with the colors blue, red, white, gold and green. Proportions of width : length = 2:3. The flag is divided in four five-sided blue squares, each fimbriated red. In flag center is a diamond-form white field. In the diamond is the silhouette of the island in green. In the center in the top of the diamond is a five-pointed golden star."
Information provided by the Secretary of the Island Council.
Jarig Bakker, 26 November 2004

Minister Nicolai of Kingdomrelations reached a historic agreement with Curaçao and Sint Maarten. The islands will become separate countries, like Aruba. That means that the co-operation between the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles, as agreed by the "Koninkrijksstatuut" of 1954, will end. It is agreed that there will be a common court of justice of the Netherlands, Curaçao and Sint Maarten. There are also agreements on policing and prosecution. The Netherlands will take care of the debts of the Netherlands Antilles, totalling 2,5 billion Euros. The Netherlands Antilles will cease to exist on 1 July 2007. Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius will become Dutch municipalities. Aruba is a separate entity since 1986.
No info about change of flags. The currency is also unclear, although it seems that Aruba might be forced to enter the Euro-zone(!)
Source: <www.nos.nl> reported by Stefan Lambrechts.
Jarig Bakker, 3 November 2007

Coat of Arms

image from International Civic Arms

The image is divided into three parts; the past (Golden Rock), present (Fort Oranje) and the future (angelfish). The golden rock is the name given to the island when it was a very rich trading post in the Carribean. Fort Oranje is the oldest building on the island, and the centre of social life. At the fort the Dutch government was the first to officially salute a US ship, thus the first official recognition of that country. The fish symbolises the rich nature and ecological heritage of the island. The nature also attracts many visitors and is thus of importance for the present and future of the island. Around the shield is a string of blue beads, a historical curiosity of the island. Behind the shield are two sugar cane stalks, symbolising the ancient sugar plantations. The crown symbolises the 16 (former) forts on the island. The motto Superba et confidens means Proud and Confident.
Rob Raeside, 16 September 2004

According to Ralf Hartemink's site the coat of arms was already adopted in 2002: "These quite unheraldic 'arms' have been adopted by the island council in 2002. The image is divided into three parts; the past (Golden Rock), present (Fort Oranje) and the future (angelfish). The golden rock is the name given to the island when it was a very rich trading post in the Carribean. Fort Oranje is the oldest building on the island, and the centre of social life. At the fort the Dutch government was the first to officially salute a US ship, thus the first official recognition of that country. The fish symbolises the rich nature and ecological heritage of the island. The nature also attracts many visitors and is thus of importance for the present and future of the island. Around the shield is a string of blue beads, a historical curiosity of the island. Behind the shield are two sugar cane stalks, symbolising the ancient sugar plantations. The crown symbolises the 16 (former) forts on the island. The motto Superba et confidens means Proud and Confident. The Hoge Raad van Adel, the Dutch College of Arms, clearly did not agree with the proposal, but has no official say in the Netherlands Antilles.
Literature : Letter of explanation of the arms to the Hoge Raad van Adel in Den Haag, the Netherlands."
Jarig Bakker, 19 October 2004

The Star and Stripes in St. Eustatius

At the photo reported from <www.amigoe.com>, there is also the Stars and Stripes (S&S). Why do they fly the S&S? (And apparently in the honour position, too, assuming this is deliberate).
André Coutanche, 19 November 2004

Because Sint Eustatius was the first place to salute the American flag and to recognize it as the flag of a sovereign state. An American merchantman called at Fort Oranje sometime during 1775 or 1776, and the battery at the Fort fired athe standard salute due to non - Dutch vessels entering a Dutch port.
I think we should try to ascertain whether the flying of the S&S is official government policy (either local government or that of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, either directly or through that body which administers smaller overseas possessions - the larger ones are virtually autonomous), or whether this is merely local custom and usage which has become sanctioned over time. It would also be interesting to know whether this flying of the S&S has been continuous since the 18th Century, or whether it has been re-introduced recently. I believe that the island was occupied first by the French and then the British during the Napoleonic Wars, and I can't imagine that any British commander would have allowed the S&S to be flown during that period, particularly since Britain and the US were at war with each other for much of the time.
Ron Lahav, 19 November 2004

The Dutch flag has the honour position (it is the left one of the two flags in the center), followed by the flag of the Netherlands Antilles, Unites States and St.Eustatius respectively.
The American ship was the "Andrea Doria", which was a merchantman used as war ship, and the date was 16 November 1776. (Nowadays 16 November is "Statia Day", and the flag of St.Eustatius was hoisted for the first time at Statia Day this year). About three weeks before, however, an American schooner was saluted by the Danes from Fort Frederik at St.Croix. Both were flying the "Grand Union Flag" a.k.a. "Continental Colors". The Stars and Stripes was first saluted by the French at the Bay of Quiberon (south coast of Brittany) in 1777.
Mark Sensen, 20 November 2004

Just for the record the US navy use anglicized spelling of the official name and the ship was Andrew Doria. Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships report: "Capt. Isaiah Robinson took command of Andrew Doria, and he took her down the Delaware on 17 October for a voyage to the West Indies to obtain a cargo of munitions and military supplies at St. Eustatius. When she reached that Dutch island on 16 November, Andrew Doria fired a salute of 11 guns and received a reply - the first salute to an American flag on board an American warship in a foreign port".
Painting of the ship at St. Eustatius (with the "Grand Union Flag" as Mark said) can be seen at <www.history.navy.mil/andrew_doria-i.jpg>.
Dov Gutterman, 20 November 2004