British Indian Ocean Territory (Commissioner's flag)

Last modified: 2002-10-19 by sam lockton
Keywords: british indian ocean territory | crown | indian ocean | palm tree | tree | chagos islands | diego garcia | limuria | chagos islands | chagossians |
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Flag adopted 8 November 1990, Coat of Arms adopted 2 August 1990.

• Description of the Territory
• Description of the flag
• Coat of Arms

• Flag of the Chagossians

• United Kingdom
• Colonies of the United Kingdom

Description of the Territory

British dependency, with an important U.S. military base. Is formed by the Chagos Islands (Diego Garcia, Peros Banhos, etc...) in the middle of the Indian Ocean.
Jaume Ollé, 9 June 1996

The territory was established on 8 November 1965 by the amalgamation of the Aldabra, Farquhar and Desroches islands (formerly part of the Seychelles) and the Chagos Archipelago (formerly from Mauritius. On 29 June 1976 the former Seychelles islands were retroceded to the Seychelles and were called there 'ZIL ELOIGNE SESEL'.
Herman De Wael, 24 May 1997

Description of the flag

There is a flag, only used by the commissioner. It has wavy lines of blue and white instead of the blue background of the Blue Ensign; the Union Jack in the canton; and a palm tree with a crown in the fly. Curiously, this flag, as it appears in my Crampton's Observers Book of Flags [cra90], has the proportions of 2:3 instead of 1:2.
Pascal Vagnat, 1 March 1996

Strictly speaking this is just the flag of the commissioner, the lone British official who keeps up the pretence that the British Indian Ocean Territory is anything other than an American base. Because the flag is rather unlike the usual British colonial pattern, it would not surprise me if it's an unofficial local creation that has since been ratified (it was formally adopted in 1990), especially as it's for use on land only.
Roy Stilling, 21 November 1996

Coat of Arms

The COA of [British Indian Ocean Territory] shows the motto of "IN TUTELA NOSTRA LIMURIA" in some book and another shows the motto of "PEAKS OF LIMURIA". Which one is correct? And what is the meaning of the motto (Latin?)
Nozomi Kariyasu, 17 August 2002

"In tutela nostra Limuria" means "Limuria is in our charge" - Limuria is to the Indian Ocean as Atlantis is to the Atlantic Ocean - the lost continent. The Peaks of Limuria refer to the same mythical continent.
Rob Raeside, 20 August 2002