imposed upon the staff end of the field. The 

 "lone star" is taken from the banner of the old 

 Republic of Texas, the equilateral triangle 

 from Masonic symbolism. 



471. The flag of the Secretary of the Navy 

 of Cuba has a blue ground and an anchor in 

 white in the center. 



472. The national coat-of-arms of Cuba 

 was adopted during the revolutionary period 

 of the republic's history. It has the form of 

 an ogive shield and is divided into three sec- 

 tions, two of which are in the lower two-thirds 

 of the shield. In the left half of the lower 

 cwo-thirds are three blue and two white stripes 

 of the Cuban flag. In the right half is depicted 

 a characteristic landscape of rural Cuba. The 

 upper third of the shield shows a sea with two 

 rocky capes, between which is a golden key 

 closing the" strait thus formed, signifying that 

 Cuba, with her fine geographical position, is 

 the key to the Gulf of Mexico. The golden 

 disk of -the sun, rising out of the waves of the 

 sea and shedding its rays in all directions, rep- 

 resents Cuba, redeemed by the blood of mar- 

 tyrs and heroes, with a bright and glorious 



future before her. The shield is supported by 

 fasces surmounted by a crimson liberty cap on 

 which appears a five-pointed star. Two inter- 

 twined branches, the one of evergreen oak and 

 the other of laurel, denoting respectively en- 

 during strength and vitality and victory, en- 

 circle the right- and left sides of the shield!, 



473. The flag of the Captain of the fleet of 

 Cuba is a blue triangular pennant with an 

 anchor in white imposed on it. 



474. When the people of the eastern part 

 of the island of Haiti threw off the yoke of 

 the Haitian Government and established the 

 Dominican Republic, they designed a flag 

 which consists of a field crossed in both direc- 

 tions with white. The upper quarter next the 

 flagstaff and the lower quarter at the free end 

 are blue, while* the lower quarter next the 

 staff and the upper quarter at the free end are 

 red. In the national ensign the coat-of-arms 

 of the Dominican Republic appears on the 

 white cross. 



475. The merchant flag of the Dominican 

 Republic is like the national ensign except that 

 the coat-of-arms is omitted. ; 



476. On the shield of the coat-of-arms of 

 the Dominican Republic appear the Cross, the 

 Bible, and the colors of the country. Below 

 floats a streamer with the inscription, "Dios^, 

 Patria, Ljbertad" — "God, Country, Liberty." 



. ? These words .were the secret password of "La 

 Trinitaria," the patriotic society which f 'inau- 



~ gurated the, revolution that resulted in .the 

 .freedom of the republic. 



477. The admiral's flag of the Dommican 

 Republic is like the national ensign (474) ex- 

 cept that the outward third of the fly is swal- 

 low-tailed. 



478. Under a legislative decree, entered in 

 1900 the national flag of Ecuador is the old 

 Venezuelan flag of 181 1. The only difference 

 between it and the Colombian 'flag (462) is 

 that the Ecuadorean coat-of-arms appears in- 

 stead of the Colombian. The law provides 

 that the flag raised over the national buildings, 

 warships, fortresses, and those hoisted by the 

 diplomatic and consular agents of the republic 



in foreign countries, shall bear the coat-of- 

 arms of the nation in the center on the yellow 

 and blue stripes. 



479. The Ecuadorean law of 1900 provides 

 that the flag used by individuals and merchant 

 shipping shall be the national colors without 

 any insignia. The flags flown over municipal 

 buildings have, under that law, a circle of 

 white stars on the blue stripe, of a number 

 equal to that of the provinces which compose 

 the republic. 



4.80. The coat-of-arms of Ecuador consists 

 of an oval shield, supported by the colors of 

 the republic, in the upper part of which is a 

 representation of the sun, with that part of the 

 zodiac in which are found the signs corre- 

 sponding to the months of March, April, May. 

 and June. At the left of the shield is a repre- 

 sentation of Mount Chimborazo, washed by a 

 river on which floats a steamship. The shield 

 rests on consular fasces, the emblem of repub- 

 lican dignity, and is crowned by a condor with 

 outstretched wings. 



481. The commanding officer's pennant of 

 the Dominican Republic is triangular, with the 

 representation of the national colors still pre- 

 served. 



482. The present national flag of Guate- 

 mala is one which was provided under a de- 

 cree of 1871, restoring the colors fixed by the 

 National Assembly in 1823. It consists of three 

 vertical stripes of equal .dimensions, blue and 

 white, the latter in the center. The national 

 ensign bears the coat-of-arms of the country 

 on the white stripe. 



483. The merchant flag of Guatemala is 

 like the national ensign except that the coat- 

 of-arms is omitted. 



484. The National Congress of Honduras 

 in 1866 made the flag of the republic that of 

 the 'old Central American Federation— two blue 

 stripes )arid one white stripe between, placed 

 horizontally, and in addition a group of five 

 stars, five-pointed, in the center of the white 

 field. In the national ensign these stars are 

 replaced by the coat-of-arms ; and regrouped so 

 as to form a 'curved row erf five stars below 

 ■the escutcheog. 



485.. The Honduras merchant flag, which 

 "the law says/-, is the national flag, as distin- 

 guished from the war nagi has the five stars 

 so grouped iri the center of the white stripe as 

 to form an "X." 



486. The coat-of-arms of the Republic of 

 Haiti was established under the constitution 



' of 1843. ' It., consists of a palm surmounted by 

 the cap of Liberty and ornamented with a 

 trophy of arms, with the .motto, "L'Union fait 

 -la,.force" .(In union there is strength). When 

 '.President Soulouque established himself as 

 Emperor Faustin I, he modified the coat-of- 

 arms, but it was restored in 1861 and has since 

 remained unchanged. 



487. Guatemala's coat-of-arms dates from 

 1871. It consists of a shield with two rifles 

 and two-, swords of gold entwined by laurel 

 branches. ;!: On the scroll are the words "Liber- 

 tad, 15 de Setiembre de 1821" (Liberty. 15th 

 of September, rR:?i). Above the scroll is a 

 quetzal, the national bird of Guatemala, corre- 

 sponding to the American eagle. It is said that 

 this bird never survives captivitv. even when 



365 



