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![Early drawings]()
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"This is the National Flag of
our beloved country, Trinidad and Tobago."
And this
is the Coat of Arms of Trinidad and Tobago.
Have you ever wondered who
designed our National symbols or wanted to know why they were chosen to
represent our people? what do they mean????
The Caribbean Carousel
gang will take you along to visit with the designer of our National
symbols and find out how these came to be chosen to as our identifying
symbols.
First of all , who designed our National Flag?
Our
National flag was designed by Carlisle Chang,He designed both the Federal
Coat of Arms and the Trinidad and Tobago Coat of Arms, served as chairman
of the Design Sub-committee, responsible for designing the National flag
and Insignia.
It was not just that he designed our Flag and Coat of
Arms, but did so, spending weeks on design committees, without pay.
What do the colours of the flag mean? Why were they chosen?
The
Black represents for us the dedication of the people joined together by
one strong bond.
It is the colour of strength, of unity of purpose, and
of the wealth of the land.
Red is the colour most expressive of our
country; it represents the vitality of the land and its peoples; it is the
warmth and energy of the sun, the courage and friendliness of the people.
White is the sea by which these lands are bound; the cradle of our
heritage; the purity of our aspirations and the equality of men and women
under the sun.
Thus, the colours chosen represent the elements of the
Earth, Water and Fire which encompass all our past, present and future;
and inspire us as one united, vital, free and dedicated people.
What are the parts of our National Coat of Arms?
Starting at
the top is the "Crest", a tropical palm which recognises the fact that we
are a tropical state.
Under this is a "ships wheel" which represents
our industrial engineering wealth and the technical knowledge of our
people which steers the direction of our ship of state.
Under this is a
"Knights Helmet" which signifies the strength and determination of our
people to defend our Nation as a free and independent state.
The visor
of the helmet has five slots which is the highest status acredited to a
knights helmet.
This is surrounded by "Plumes" or feathers of red and
white as would the helmet of a knight and it sits upon a red and white
colar.
The "Shield" has the same colours (black, red, and white) of the
nation's flag and carry the same meaning.
The three "gold ships"
represent the Santa Maria, Nina, and Pinta: the three ships Christopher
Columbus used on his journey to the "New World."
The two "birds" on
the shield are hummingbirds. Trinidad is sometimes referred to as the
"Land of the Hummingbird" because more than sixteen different species of
hummingbird have been recorded on the island.
The two "larger birds"
are the Scarlet Ibis (left) and the Cocrico (right),called supports, the
national birds of Trinidad and Tobago. These birds stand on the Trinity
hills reprsenting Trinidad on the left and on the right is the island of
Tobago surounded by the Caribbean sea.
Below these islands is our
nation's motto, "Together We Aspire, Together We Achieve."
Carlisle
Chang was born on the 21st of April 1921 near the Croisee, the bustling
cross roads in San Juan, Trinidad. His early art education included a
correspondence course from the Washington School of Art, a two year study
program under Amy Leong-Pang and a Master's certificate from the New York
Institute of Photography. A British Council Scholarship in 1950 enabled
him to study poetry, painting and mural painting at the L.C.C. Central
School of Arts and Crafts, London where he received the diploma in 1953
and won an Italian Government Scholarship to the Instituto Statale d'Arte
for Ceramics in Faenza.
RENOWNED artist Carlisle Chang died at his
Lewis Street, Woodbrook, home at 7.10 on May 2nd 2001.
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