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Jamaica - Military Flags

Jamaica - Defence Force Flag
Jamaica Regiment Flags

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Defence Force Flag

image by Eugene Baldwin, 23 September 1998

After smi75b. This is now the military flag, but is derived from the badge of the Colonial Police Force in Jamaica. The inscription on the badge on the flag is "DEFENCE FORCE". Ratio 3:5.
David Prothero, 26 September 1998

Armed forces in Jamaica (1997): 3.320 (Army, 90.4%; Cost Guards, 4.5%; Air Force, 5.1%).
Source: Encyclopaedia Universalis Yearbook (1998).
Ivan Sache, 27 February 2002

Jamaica Regiment

The Jamaica Regiment (infantry) is the main component of the Jamaica Defence Force, and each of the three battalions carries two colours in the British tradition.
The Queen's Colour is the national flag with a central red circle inscribed with the name of the regiment and surmounted by a crown. The battalion number (roman numeral) is in the middle of the circle.
The Regimental Colour consists of the same circle, regimental name and crown, but inside the circle is the regimental badge (an alligator). The whole is surmounted by a wreath of a design peculiar to Jamaica (in keeping with Commonwealth tradition), but I can't figure out what the wreaths are. They appear to be different for each battalion. Also unusual are the different facing colours for the 1st and 2nd Battalions (blue and red). Normally all battalions of a regiment have the same colour. Blue is reserved for "royal" regiments (which Jamaica is not), and red is normally unknown since a regiment with red facings would carry a Colour in the form of a St. George cross.
You can see the Colours at http://www.jdfmil.org/info/tour/photo_gallery/infantry/infan_piclib1.html
Only a Queen's Colour is shown for the 3rd Battalion, and it is possible that is all that was ever presented.
T.F. Mills, 22 September 1999 and Željko Heimer, 23 February 2002