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image byZoltan Horvath, 18 October 2024
Official Name:Republic of Suriname(Republiek Suriname)
Previous Names:Netherlands Guiana, Dutch Guiana
Flag adopted:25November 1975
See also:
The unity of all ethnical groups is represented byonestar. The colour (yellow/gold) of the star stands for a goldenfuture. The red stripe stands for progress and love, the greenfor hope and fertility, and white for peace and justice.
Mark Sensen, 2 March 1996
In 1667 according to the Treaty of Breda, New Amsterdam(modern New York) was exchanged for Suriname, which was conqueredby the Zeeland navy. In 1682 it was handed over to the GWC (DutchWest India Company). On 21 May 1683 the 'Societeit van Suriname'('Society of Suriname') was established, in which the GWC, theCity of Amsterdam and Cornelis van Aerssen van Sommelsdijckparticipated. The first known arms of Suriname can be found ofseals from around 1684. It consisted of the arms of the City ofAmsterdam, the GWC (a three-master), and the Family of VanAerssen, together with two S'es, an Indian shooting an arrow,the motto 'Justitia Pietas Fides', and two Indians as supporters.In 1770 the shares of the Van Aerssen family were taken over bythe City of Amsterdam, so the arms of Van Aerssen were dropped.In 1795 the 'Society of Suriname' is liquidated, and the colonyis governed by the 'Raad der Colonien' ('Council of Colonies').New arms are adopted, consisting of the three-master, flying a(Dutch) flag with 'R.v.S.' for 'Raad van Suriname' ('Council ofSuriname'). On 1 March 1803 the Batavian Republic abolished allprevious adopted arms, and the Dutch arms (a lion of gold withsword and bunch of arrows) with 'Suriname' underneath became thenew arms of Suriname. After the Kingdom of the Netherlands wasestablished in 1815, the arms of the kingdom were also valid forthe colonies. Nevertheless, the arms with the three-master can befound on bank-notes and headings of gazettes, and also on a(unofficial?) flag.
The modern arms were adopted 15 December 1959, several years afterbecoming autonomous within the Kingdom of the Netherlands in1954. When Suriname became independent on 25 November 1975 thesearms were slightly revised (the hair of the Indians was changedfrom blond to black.....).
Sources: "Wapens en Zegels van Suriname", Mr.Johanna Felhoen Kraal, 1950. "Keesingslandenvademecum", J. Goedvolk, 1980. [Laa13] and [ped80].
Mark Sensen, 19 April 1999
In 1980 after a coup a national Military Council came intopower, headed by Desi Bouterse. The national flag, adopted in1975, wasn't changed. In 1986 the so-calledJungle Commando,with Ronnie Brunswijk as leader, began to fight the army of thegovernment. After some time they had some parts of East Surinameunder control. According to a newspaper report (printed inVexillaNostra no. 148, January/February 1987) they used thenational flag, but with some colours changed; e.g. the yellow starwas changed to black. Unfortunately the other changes aren'tmentioned.
Mark Sensen, 2 May 1999
The present flag of Surinam was established by a Decree of theGovernor (Johan H. Ferrier) dated 25 November 1975 (abrogatingDecree G.B. 1929 No.105 of 8 December 1959) and the appendix gaveconstruction details, official colour specifications and theoriginal symbolism of the flag. It was published in theGovernment Gazette of Suriname No.160 of 24 November 1975, andhere are some extracts from it:
COLORS: The colours of the five horizontal bars are respectivelygreen, white, (bright) red, white and green The green colourconsists of nine parts chromate-green and one part white. The(bright) red colour consists of four parts bright orange(vermilion-red) and six parts carmine-red (geranium). The colourof the five-pointed star is yellow. The yellow colour consists oftwelve parts chromate-yellow and one part white.
SIZES: The height in proportion to the length is 2:3. The heightsof the bars from top to bottom – green, white, red, white,green – are in the proportions of 2-1-4-1-2. The centre ofthe circle that circumscribes the five-pointed star is situatedon the vertical centre line of the flag. The topmost point of thestar is also situated on this centre line. The radius of thecircle that contains the star is equal to the width of a greenbar, or half the width of the (bright) red bar. The distancebetween the topmost point of the star and the top of the (bright)red bar is equal to the distance between the two lowest points ofthe star and the lower edge of the (bright) red bar.
SYMBOLISM - The green symbolizes the fertility of Suriname withits multitude in possibilities; at the same time this colourdepicts the hopeful expectations, the new Suriname. The whitesymbolizes justice; it also depicts freedom. The white bars offreedom and justice connect the green of the possibilities of thecountry with the (bright) red of renewal through the deeds of thenation. In the (bright) red colour, the bright orange (vermilionred), is depicted as the symbol for renewal and the carmine-reddepicts the love which leads to deeds. The star symbolizes theunity of the nation and the yellow symbolizes the sacrificesmade. The yellow star symbolizes the sacrificing harmony and thedirection taken to a golden future. From its light the nationdraws its strength to bear the sacrifices patiently and, withconfidence in their own ability, to continue to devote themselvesto country and nation.
This was translated from the original Dutch byAndre van deLoo and supplied to me byJos Poels.
Christopher Southworth, 26 January 2003
According to Album 2000 [pay00]:National Flag (CSW/CSW 2:3 (2+1+4+1+2:15)) - Tricolour of fiveunequally wide stripes green-white-red-white-green with a yellowfive-pointed star in the middle. Each of the green stripes isdouble the width of any of the equally wide white stripes, andred stripe is double the width of any of the green stripes. (Thisis longishly said: 2+1+4+1+2). The yellow star is inscribed in acircle with diameter 4/10 of hoist, and the star (and not theimaginary circle) is positioned in the middle of the flag (i.e.there is equal distance from the top of the star to the top ofthe flag as from the bottom two point of the star to the bottomof the flag).
Željko Heimer, 30 January 2003
Fromwww.suriname.nu:
"The flag of Suriname was designed by Jacques Herman Pinas.Minister-President H. Aron held a contest, before independenceday in 1975, to design a flag. The Azimullah judging committeeselected the J.H. Pinas design.
General characteristics - Shape is rectangular with 5 horizontalbars and a 5 pointed star. Colors - The 5 horizontal bars arefrom top to bottom: green-white-red-white-green.
The color green is made of 9 parts chromatic-green and one partwhite. The color red is made of 4 parts vermillion red and 6parts carmine red. The color yellow is made of 12 parts chromaticyellow and one part white.
Symbolism - Green is a symbol of the fertility of Suriname andits unlimited potential as a country. Green is the symbol of hopefor a new Suriname. White is a symbol for justice and freedom.The white bars represent justice and freedom and connect thegreen bars, representing fertility, potential and hope with thered bar the symbol for Suriname's deeds. This red color wasobtained by mixing bright orange (symbol of renewal) with carmine(symbol of love). It symbolizes the never ending urge of a nationto work hard for a renewed citizen and society. The star is thesymbol of unity of the nation. Yellow stands for sacrifice. Unityof the nation will lead one day to a golden future. From thelight of the star the nation gets its inspiration, its confidenceto be able to manage and be self sufficient. The star guides thecitizens to sacrifice and to give its best effort to thenation."
Mark Sensen, 17 July 2003
The republic now has a ceremonial flag (official flag ofSuriname with fringe around the borders) which is carried by athe armed forces during the independence day , 25th of November.Also the armed forces have their own standard as of 24th November2003.
Dave Abeleven, 25 November 2003
image byMark Sensen, 26 January 2003
There is only roughly 4.5% (of the diameter of the circle)difference between centring the star between its verticalextremities and the centre point of the circle within which it iscreated, and in most cases this does not really matter There are,however, exceptions and a good (if extreme) example of what Imean is the star on the flag of Surinam. In the case of Surinamthe star itself is centred on the flag, while the imaginarycircle in which it is created actually extends below the edge ofthe red stripe.
Christopher Southworth, 29 May 2004
I haven�t found the original decree online, only an extract found in this document with color specification values:https://kennisbanksu.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Vlag-Suriname-Kennisbanksu.pdf
Color values are given as follows:
Green: RGB 55-126-63, CMYK 95-0-100-27, Pantone 356C, RCS 3060 G 10 Y
Red: RGB 180-10-45, CMYK 0-100-81-4, Pantone 186C, RCS 1080 Y 90 R
Yellow: RGB 236-200-29, CMYK 0-16-100-0, Pantone 116C, RCS 0580 Y 10 R
Zoltan Horvath, 18 October 2024
The protocol manual for theLondon 2012 Olympics(Flags and Anthems ManualLondon 2012 [loc12]) provides recommendationsfor national flag designs. EachNOCwas sent an image of the flag, including thePMS shades, for their approval by LOCOG. Once this was obtained, LOCOG produceda 60 x 90 cm version of the flag for further approval. So, while these specs maynot be the official, government, version of each flag, they are certainly whattheNOCbelieved the flag to be.
For Surinam: PMS 356 green, 186 red, 116 yellow. The vertical flag is simply thehorizontal version turned 90 degrees clockwise.
Ian Sumner, 10 October 2012
The Album des Pavillons 1990 [pay98] (Corr. No. 30.) gives approximate colors in Pantone and CMYK systems:
Green: Pantone 356c, CMYK 100-0-90-20
Red: Pantone 186c, CMYK 0-90-80-5
Yellow: Pantone 116c, CMYK 0-10-95-0
The Flag Manual - Beijing 2008 gives Pantone colors: PMS 032 (red), PMS 109 (yellow), and PMS 355 (green).
The Album des Pavillons 2000 [pay00] gives approximate colors in Pantone and CMYK systems:
Green: Pantone 356c, CMYK 100-0-90-25
Red: Pantone 186c, CMYK 0-90-80-5
Yellow: Pantone 116c, CMYK 0-10-95-0
The Album des Pavillons 2023 already specifies the colors of the flags in three color systems:
Red: Pantone 186c, CMYK 10-100-74-2, RGB 210-16-52
Yellow: Pantone 116c, CMYK 0-19-93-0, RGB 255-206-0
Green: Pantone 356c, CMYK 89-29-100-18, RGB 0-114-41
Vexilla Mundi gives colors in Pantone system: PMS 356C (green), PMS 186C (red), PMS White, and PMS 116C (yellow).
Wikipedia illustrates the flag, and construction details, and gives color values as follows:
Green: Hex #377e3f, RGB 55-126-63, Pantone 356C, RCS 3060 G 10 Y
White: Hex #FFFFFF, RGB 255-255-255, Pantone N/A, RCS N/A
Red: Hex #b40a2d, RGB 180-10-45, Pantone 186C, RCS 1080 Y 90 R
Yellow: Hex #ecc81d, RGB 236-200-29, Pantone 116C, RCS 0580 Y 10 R
Flag Color Codes gives the following color values:
Green: Hex #007A33, RGB 0-122-51, CMYK 91-0-100-26, Pantone 356, RAL 6029
White: Hex #FFFFFF, RGB 255-255-255, CMYK 0-0-0-0, Pantone N/A, RAL N/A
Red: Hex #C8102E, RGB 200-16-46, CMYK 0-100-80-5, Pantone 186, RAL3028
Yellow: Hex #FFCD00, RGB 255-205-0, CMYK 0-10-98-0, Pantone 116, RAL 2007
Zoltan Horvath, 18 October 2024
Atthis page:
"Is this our new Surinam flag ?
...
In connection with the celebration of Suriname Day the rice district has been decorated magnificently. Nw. Nickerie has become the city of splendour. The buildings and the streets are decorated elegantly, each in its own unique way. The many streets have been decorated beautifully, to which end the Surinam flag was used as decoration as well.
The VHP youth of Nickerie have pointed out to me that the organisation for the decoration of streets and buildings, used flags that are very similar to our original Surinam flag. In stead of 1 star they have now placed 3 stars on this flag. Apparently the other 2 stars just fell from the sky.
..."
He then continues with considering this an insult to the actual flag and quotes the law on this matter.
The decoration is a high flag, with the colours of the flag, but with the white stripes each a high and low wave, and with three yellow five-pointed stars placed on the main diagonal of the red.
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 25 August 2014
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image byZoltan Horvath, 18 October 2024
The explanation of the arms fromhttp://www.sr.net/srnet/InfoSurinam/arm.html (defunct):
"The coat of arms of Suriname consists of two Indians holding a shield. Below the Indians and the shield you find the motto 'Justitia Pietas Fides' which means 'Justice Faith Loyalty'. The sailing boat at the left part of the shield symbolizes the history of Suriname when slaves were taken to Suriname from Africa. The palm at the right part of the shield stands for the present as well for justice. The diamond in the middle symbolises a hart. The five-point star within the diamond stands for the five continents the inhabitants from Suriname came from."
Mark Sensen, 19 April 1999
The motto in the scroll, "JUSTITIA - PIETAS -FIDES", means "Justice, Piety, Faith".
António Martins, 13 September 1999
The image of the Coat of Arms shown above is based heavily onCorel Clipart, coloured after the Album 2000.
Željko Heimer, 30 January 2003
image byŽeljko Heimer, 30 January 2003
According to Album 2000 [pay00]:Aircraft Marking - Roundel of unequal rings of green-white-redthe last containing the yellow star.
Željko Heimer, 30 January 2003
Surinam Defence Force Air Wing was formed in 1982. We havecontradicting reports from [cos98]and [pay00]: [cos98] reported that national flag is used as fuselage, wings and tail markings as seen atwww.fighter-jets.de,while [pay00] reported a roundel of red (charged with yellow star)-white- green as seen atwww.scramble.nl.
Are those marking used side by side? I would say no.
My calculated guess that new marking were adopted late 1998 or early 1999. The C.212 which appear atwww.scramble.nl (andorbat-casa.jpg as the other one atsuriname2.jpg)is one of two delivered in this era (and after [cos98] was issued. Moreover, the sole BN-2A which seen atwww.fighter-jets.de seen atwww.scramble.nlwith new finish.
Dov Gutterman, 25 June 2004
