The flag of Guyana, known as The Golden Arrowhead, has been the national flag

Flag

A flag is a piece of fabric with a distinctive design that is usually rectangular and used as a symbol, as a signaling device, or decoration. The term flag is also used to refer to the graphic design employed by a flag, or to its depiction in another medium.The first flags were used to assist...

 of Guyana

Guyana

Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...

since May 1966 when the country became independent from the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. It was designed by Whitney Smith

Whitney Smith

Whitney Smith is a professional vexillologist, i.e., scholar of flags. The term vexillology, which he coined in his 1958 article Flags of the Arab World, refers to the scholarly analysis of all aspects of flags. In 1961, Smith and colleague Gerhard Grahl cofounded The Flag Bulletin, the world's...

, an American vexillologist (though originally without the black and white fimbriation

Fimbriation

In heraldry and vexillology, fimbriation refers to small stripes of colour placed around common charges or ordinaries, usually in order for them to stand out from the background, but perhaps just because the designer felt it looked better, or for a more technical reason to avoid what would...

s, which were later additions suggested by the College of Arms

College of Arms

The College of Arms, or Heralds’ College, is an office regulating heraldry and granting new armorial bearings for England, Wales and Northern Ireland...

 in the United Kingdom).

The proportions of the national flag are 3:5. The colours are symbolic

Symbol

A symbol is something which represents an idea, a physical entity or a process but is distinct from it. The purpose of a symbol is to communicate meaning. For example, a red octagon may be a symbol for "STOP". On a map, a picture of a tent might represent a campsite. Numerals are symbols for...

, with green

Green

Green is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 520–570 nanometres. In the subtractive color system, it is not a primary color, but is created out of a mixture of yellow and blue, or yellow and cyan; it is considered...

 for agriculture

Agriculture

Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

 and forests, white

White

White is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light that stimulates all three types of color sensitive cone cells in the human eye in nearly equal amounts and with high brightness compared to the surroundings. A white visual stimulation will be void of hue and grayness.White light can be...

 for rivers and water

Water

Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...

, gold

Gold (color)

Gold, also called golden, is one of a variety of orange-yellow color blends used to give the impression of the color of the element gold....

 for mineral

Mineral

A mineral is a naturally occurring solid chemical substance formed through biogeochemical processes, having characteristic chemical composition, highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. By comparison, a rock is an aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids and does not...

 wealth, black

Black

Black is the color of objects that do not emit or reflect light in any part of the visible spectrum; they absorb all such frequencies of light...

 for endurance

Endurance

Endurance is the ability for a human or animal to exert itself and remain active for a long period of time, as well as its ability to resist, withstand, recover from, and have immunity to trauma, wounds, or fatigue. In humans, it is usually used in aerobic or anaerobic exercise...

, and red

Red

Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 630–740 nm. Longer wavelengths than this are called infrared , and cannot be seen by the naked eye...

 for zeal and dynamism.

Other flags

The civil air ensign

Civil air ensign

A nation's civil air ensign is its national flag which represents civil aviation in that nation. Typically, it is flown from buildings connected with the administration of civil aviation and it may also be flown by airlines of the appropriate country. A civil air ensign is the equivalent of the...

 is a copy of the British Civil Air Ensign

British Civil Air Ensign

The Civil Air Ensign is the flag that may be flown at airports in the United Kingdom and from landed British aircraft.The ensign's field is light blue and has a dark blue Latin cross which is fimbriated white placed overall. The Union Flag is in the canton....

, with the Guyanese flag in the canton

Flag terminology

Flag terminology is a jargon used in vexillology, the study of flags, to describe precisely the parts, patterns, and other attributes of flags and their display.-Description of standard flag parts and terms:...

. The naval ensign of Guyana is a stretched version of the national flag, with proportions of 1:2.

As part of the British Empire

British Empire

The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...

, Guyana's flag was a British Blue Ensign

Blue Ensign

The Blue Ensign is a flag, one of several British ensigns, used by certain organisations or territories associated with the United Kingdom. It is used either plain, or defaced with a badge or other emblem....

 with the colonial badge in the fly. An unofficial red

Red Ensign

The Red Ensign or "Red Duster" is a flag that originated in the early 17th century as a British ensign flown by the Royal Navy and later specifically by British merchantmen. The precise date of its first appearance is not known, but surviving receipts indicate that the Navy was paying to have such...

version was used at sea. The first flag was introduced in 1875 and was changed slightly in 1906 and 1955. Like all British Ensigns, the colonial flags of Guyana were all ratio 1:2.