The national flag of Antigua and Barbuda was adopted on February 27, 1967, and was designed by a school teacher named Reginald Samuels. The sun symbolises the dawning of a new era. The colours have different meanings, the black is for the African ancestry of the people, the blue for hope, the red for energy. The successive colouring of yellow, blue, and white (from the sun down) also stands for the sun, sea, and sand. The blue also represents the Caribbean Sea, and the V-shape is the symbol of victory.