Gibraltar

Related Categories: City Symbols    World Flags and Symbols    USA State Symbols   

Flag of Gibraltar Two horizontal bands of white (top, double width) and red with a three-towered red castle in the center of the white band; hanging from the castle gate is a gold key centered in the red band.

Strategically important, Gibraltar was reluctantly ceded to Great Britain by Spain in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht; the British garrison was formally declared a colony in 1830. In a referendum held in 1967, Gibraltarians voted overwhelmingly to remain a British dependency. Although the current 1969 Constitution for Gibraltar states that the British government will never allow the people of Gibraltar to pass under the sovereignty of another state against their freely and democratically expressed wishes, a series of talks were held by the UK and Spain between 1997 and 2002 on establishing temporary joint sovereignty over Gibraltar. In response to these talks, the Gibraltarian Government set up a referendum in late 2002 in which a majority of the citizens voted overwhelmingly against any sharing of sovereignty with Spain. Since the referendum, tripartite talks have been held with Spain, the UK, and Gibraltar, and in September 2006 a three-way agreement was signed. Spain agreed to allow airlines other than British to serve Gibraltar, to speed up customs procedures, and to add more telephone lines into Gibraltar. Britain agreed to pay pensions to Spaniards who had been employed in Gibraltar before the border closed in 1969. Spain will be allowed to open a cultural institute from which the Spanish flag will fly. - CIA World Factbook.

Arms and Flag of Gibraltar
The flag of Gibraltar is an elongated banner of the Arms of Gibraltar, granted by Royal Warrant Queen Isabella of Castille on the 10th July 1502.
www.gibraltar.gov.gi/about_gib/national_symbols/national_index.htm

Gibraltar - Fotw
Civil and State Flag, Flag variants, Governor's Flag, Government Ensign, Civil Ensign, Coat-of-Arms and Badge.
www.fotw.us/flags/gi.html

Gibraltar - wikipedia.org
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located near the southernmost tip of the Iberian Peninsula overlooking the Strait of Gibraltar.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibraltar