The flag is one of the most important symbol of a country. It symbolizes the culture, beliefs, history and values of a people. For many years the British Union Jack was flown in Guyana but was replaced without very own flag, The Golden Arrowhead when Guyana gained independence from the United Kingdom on the 26th May 1966. In addition to The Golden Arrowhead, the country obtained other symbols of nationhood which moved on to define our nation as a whole. The other symbols of nationhood are The National Anthem, The National Flower, National Bird – The Canje Pheasant or Hoatzin. The Golden Arrowhead is only one of Guyana’s Symbols of Independence. Like any other flag, The Golden Arrowhead represents the Guyanese people and has quite a bit of symbolism behind it. Read on to find out who created the flag of Guyana we know today as well as the significance of the flag.
The Golden Arrowhead – Image Source: Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=343600
About The Golden Arrowhead?
The Golden Arrowhead is the National Flag of Guyana, which was raised instead of the British Union Jack on 26th May, 1966 thus marking Guyana’s independence. The Golden Arrowhead is rectangular, like all flags and are separated by two isosceles triangles of two colours; red, and gold. The base of the flag is green, with two triangles, red and yellow respectively. The red triangle is outlined in a thin line of black, while the gold triangle is outlined by white. Fifty (50) percent of the Golden Arrowhead is allocated to the colour green; twenty-four (24) percent to yellow; red – sixteen (16) percent, white -six (6) percent and finally, black takes up a total of four (4) percent of the flag.
Significance of the Golden Arrowhead’s Colours
- Red – Red, perhaps the most dynamic colour on the Golden Arrowhead represents the zeal and dynamic task of nation-building that Guyana faces.
- Black – The colour Black symbolizes the strength and endurance of Guyana’s people, which is a force behind the golden arrow’s forward-pointing thrust into the future.
- Gold – Gold represents the mineral wealth of Guyana and its progress.
- White – Guyana is not known as the ‘land of many waters’ for no reason. Guyana’s is noted for its numerous waterways, which along with our water potential is represented by the white line bordering the gold of the Golden Arrowhead.
- Green – Green taking up more than half of the flag, represents Guyana’s agricultural and forested nature.
History of The Golden Arrowhead
The Golden Arrowhead was designed by the late Mr. Whitney Smith, Director of the Flag Centre, Florida USA. His design, however, did not include the black and white lines, which were later added by the suggestion of the College of Arms in the United Kingdom.
In 1961, a few years prior to Guyana’s independence, design submissions of the National Flag, National Coat of arms, National Anthem was requested. It was mandatory for the National Flag was to have five colours- green, gold, red, black and white.
About six years before Guyana gained independence from Great Britain, the design of the Golden Arrowhead was submitted to Dr. Cheddi Jagan who was the Premier of British Guiana. At the time Mr. Whitney Smith, aged twenty (20) wrote to Dr. Cheddi Jagan inquiring about Guyana’s new flag. He was then invited to submit his suggestion, to which small modifications were made.
Mr. Smith took part in this international competition and his design was selected. The Guyana House of Assembly approved Mr. Whitney Smith’s design of Guyana’s National Flag on January 26th, 1966 in a motion moved by Minister of Education, Mrs. Winifred Gaskin. This design was selected to be Guyana’s new flag, one of the new symbols of nationhood.
The Golden Arrowhead of Guyana
On 26th May, 1966 the Golden Arrowhead was flown for very first time in Guyana, marking the country independence from Great Britain. The British Union Jack that had flown for years over Guyana was finally removed and replace with our flag. The design of the Golden Arrowhead was done by Mr. Whitney Smith and selected to be Guyana’s new flag.
Article Reference
- https://www.oas.org/children/members/natSymbols/Guyana.htmlhttps://www.oas.org/children/members/natSymbols/Guyana.html
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Guyana
- https://www.britannica.com/topic/flag-of-Guyana
- http://www.caribcentral.com/guyana/guyflag_coat.htm
- https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/all-about-the-flag-of-guyana.html
- https://newsroom.gy/2016/11/24/designer-of-the-golden-arrow-head-passes-away/
- https://guyanachronicle.com/2016/11/24/designer-of-golden-arrowhead-passes-on/
