Flag of Jamaica

The present design emerged from those sent in by the public in a national competition. It was originally designed with horizontal stripes, but this was considered too similar to the Tanganyikan flag, and so the saltire was substituted. It hints at the Scottish and Irish roots of much of the population, while black, green, and gold are Pan-African colors, representing the country's black majority population. An earlier interpretation of the colors was, "hardships there are but the land is green and the sun shineth": gold recalls the shining sun, black reflects hardships, and green represents the land. However, that was changed to the colour black representing the strength and creativity of the people which has allowed them to overcome the odds, yellow for the golden sunshine and green for the lush vegetation of the island.