Martinique

Martinique is a French overseas region and department in the Caribbean. Its flag is a green and black bicolour with a red triangle on the hoist side. Previously unofficially used, the flag came second in a public vote in 2022, and was adopted by the local assembly on 2 February 2023.

The Ipséité[]

In May 2019, the territorial collectivity adopted the Ipséité, a flag intended to "[identify] our territory and represent our delegations in culture, sports and institutional areas on the international level", although it is not a political or national emblem.^[1] It has a gyronny of eight blue and green segments representing the languages that have historically been spoken on the island, 34 Amerindian stars representing its communes, and a depiction of a queen conch in its centre. In November 2021, the flag was annulled by the local administrative tribunal.

The Snake Flag[]

An earlier local flag, known as the "Snake Flag", has been in use since 1766, originally as an ensign for vessels from the French colonies of Martinique and Saint Lucia. Though never adopted as a territorial flag, it was widely used to represent Martinique, but has become controversial due to its historical use on ships employed for the Atlantic slave trade.