Adopted 1 August 1963 | Proportion 1:2 | |
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Design A white ensign with the Union flag in the top right hand corner and the coat of arms of the British Antarctic Territory centre-right. | ||
The flag of the British Antarctic Territory was granted on 1 August 1963, a year after the British Antarctic Territory, a British Overseas Territory, was created. Previously, the Territory was a part of the Falkland Islands Dependencies and used the same flag.
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Description
The flag is a white ensign with the Union Flag in the canton, defaced with the coat of arms of the British Antarctic Territory, which was introduced in 1952. The coat of arms features a lion, representing the United Kingdom, and a penguin, representing the native wildlife. The crest of the coat of arms is the RRS Discovery, which first took Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton to Antarctica as part of the British National Antarctic Expedition. She is currently a museum ship in Dundee. The motto on the coat of arms is Research and Discovery.
Use and related flags
The flag flies over the British research stations in the Territory and at the headquarters of the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge. Vessels of the British Antarctic Survey use a blue ensign defaced with the shield from the coat of arms, which can be seen below. This ensign was introduced by Royal Warrant on 30 May 1969. The flag of the Commissioner for the British Antarctic Territory, a position currently held by Peter Hayes, is also seen below.
The flag is the only British Overseas Territory flag to use the white ensign.