Bermuda

Home> Countries> North America> Bermuda

Country Name

Bermuda, The Somers Isles, or Islands of Bermuda.

Location

Bermuda is a British Overseas Territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. It is approximately 1,035 km east-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina; 1,236 km south of Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia; 1,759 km northeast of Cuba, and 1,538 km due north of the British Virgin Islands.

Capital

Hamilton.

Reason for naming the country

Bermuda is named after the Spanish sailor Juan de Bermúdez, who discovered the islands in 1505. One of the earliest appearances of the name in English literature is in Shakespeare's The Tempest.

Flag

The flag was first adopted on 4 October 1910.

It is a British Red Ensign with the Union Flag in the upper left corner and the coat of arms of Bermuda in the lower right. Prior to this like most of the British colonies at the time it adopted a blue ensign with a seal that depicted a dry dock with three sailing ships. In 1999, the flag was changed to its current form, with an enlarged coat of arms.

The coat of arms shows a lion holding a shield that bears a picture of a shipwreck on a rock. The Latin inscription on the coat of arms reads Quo Fata Farunt ("Whither the Fates Carry"). The British flag represents that it is a territory of Britain, The red color represents bravery, strength, hardiness, and valor, the white color represents peace, while the blue color represents justice, loyalty, perseverance, truth, and vigilance.

The coat of arms represents the courage of Admiral George Sommer who crushed onto the reef intentionally to save the people on board his ship from a storm. These individuals became the first settlers on the island.