Flag of Antigua and Barbuda, different colours have different meanings. Red is for the energy of the people, black for the African ancestry, and the yellow, blue and white stands for the sun, sea and sand.
HISTORY AND ETYMOLOGY
Antigua means 'ancient' and Barbuda means 'bearded' in Spanish.
The island of Antigua had an ancient name of Wa'ladli and is now called Wadadli by the locals.
It is possible that Christopher Columbus named Antigua after the icon in the Seville Cathedral, Santa Maria la Antigua.
Pre-Columbian Antigua
Arawaks in a canoe
Antigua was settled by the Ciboney people as early as 3100 BC. The next tribe that ruled in Antigua was the Arawaks, who moved in from what is now Venezuela in South America.
Around 1100 AD, most Arawaks left the island, and it was later raided and annexed by the Caribs, which had much more superior weapons and seafaring skills. However, due to the difficulty differentiating between the local tribal groups, there may have been much more others than the Caribs and Arawaks.
Post-Columbian Antigua and Barbuda
One of the British flags of Antigua and Barbuda
Although the Spaniards had sightings of the island particularly with Christopher Columbus, they did not colonize it due to the lack of good natural resources (like fresh water) and the hostile locals. The British did, however, do so in 1632 with Antigua and in 1684 with Barbuda. Other than a short French period there, all remained until 1981.
Independent sovereign state
Antigua and Barbuda nowadays
On the same year it got its independence, Antigua and Barbuda enter the Commonwealth of Nations. As usual, the King/Queen of Antigua and Barbuda was the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
As of September 2017, the disastrous Hurricane Irma destroyed near to all of the infrastructure in Barbuda. Fortunately, injuries and death were kept at a low number.
CURRENCY AND COINS
Half Dollar of British West Indian Dollar
© Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions
Although it being a British colony, most of the currency used before the silver crisis of 1873 were the Spanish and Mexican dollars. In 1838, it was regulated that Antigua and Barbuda should adopt the sterling currency on or by 1847. However, the pieces of eight continued to circulate in the colony.
From 1949, they switched to the British West Indies Dollar until 1955, when the decimal coinage was introduced. $4.80 = £1 was the exchange rate.
Finally, after independence, Antigua and Barbuda joined numerous states to use the Eastern Caribbean Dollar as their official currency.
British West Indian Dollar
Eastern Caribbean Dollar
