Saint Barthélemy

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Country Name

Saint Barthélemy, officiallyCollectivité territoriale de Saint-Barthélemy.

Often abbreviated to St-Barth in French, and St. Barths or St. Barts in English.

Location

Saint-Barthélemy is an overseas collectivity of France in the Caribbean, the island lies about 35 kilometers (22 mi) southeast of the Caribbean island Saint Martin and northeast of the Dutch islands of Saba, Sint Eustatius, and the independent country of Saint Kitts and Nevis.

Capital

Gustavia.

Reason for naming the country

The island was named by Christopher Columbus for his younger brother Bartholomew Columbus in 1493.

Flag

Saint Barthelemy is a French Overseas collectivity and therefore uses the French flag. The coat of arms was adopted in 1977.

The coat of arms serves as the unofficial flag of Saint Barthélemy, it is composed of a blue shield with a red stripe at the center that divides the flag into three unequal parts. The top blue part of the shield contains three mural crowns (Fleurs-de-lis). The red center stripe has a Maltase cross while the bottom blue part of the shield contains three gold crowns. On top of the shield is a castle with three rooks and inlets. Two pelicans, each with one foot stepping on the shield, face each other laterally on either side with their wings flapped open. The other feet of the two pelicans rest on a ribbon below the shield with the words OUANALAO.