The Belize Flag was formed after Belize gained Independence in 1981. It has a royal blue background with two red horizontal borders; one top border runs horizontally across the top from left to right and one bottom border runs across the bottom (baseline ) from left to right. Embellished in the center of the flag is the coat of arms: a white, filled in circle bordered by a green, circular, garland flowing in a clockwise direction.
The coat of arms features:. A mahogany tree: the first European settlers in Belize became mahogany traders and the mahogany trade was once the economical backbone of the colony. Two woodcutters, the one on the left holding an axe and the one on the right holding a paddle. A shield showing the tools of the mahogany trade including a paddle, squaring axe, beating axe, saw and ship. A flowing scroll bearing the Latin motto "sub umbra floreo", meaning "under the shade I flourish", or/and implying "under the shade of the mahogany tree we flourish".
The Government of Belize launched a competition for a flag for the new nation state of Belize for Independence nearing September 21st 1981. The competition was opened to the public and several designs were submitted, but the committee selected a specific design which was put forward by Everal Waight, Inéz Sánchez. They took the PUP flag and added the Belize's coat of arms in the center. They also used colors from the UDP red and white flag. The flag designers then made a number of changes to it causing it to look the way it does today. For one and For all, big up Belize!
