Coat of arms of the Falkland Islands

History

The Falkland Islands were reportedly first spotted by the English navigator John Davis on 14 August 1592. The earliest conclusive sighting of the islands was done by Sebald de Weert around eight years later. This was followed by the first documented landing in 1690 by John Strong, who named the sound dividing the two largest islands after Anthony Cary, 5th Viscount Falkland. The name was subsequently extended to the islands themselves. Sovereignty over the Falklands changed hands between the British and the Spanish throughout the 18th century. The United Provinces of South America asserted its sovereignty over the islands in 1820, four years after the United Provinces declared its independence from Spain. However, the British sent a military force to the Falklands in early 1833 to expel Argentine officials there and proceeded to appoint the territory's first governor eight years later.

The Falklands were placed on the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories in 1946. Two years later, a Royal Warrant was issued on 29 September granting the territory its own coat of arms. It was consequently employed on the Blue Ensign to create the flag of the territory that same year after authorisation was granted by the Admiralty. These symbols were briefly displaced during the Argentine occupation of the islands from April 1982 until the end of the Falklands War a little over two months later. The flag was redesigned in 1999, with the size of the coat of arms increased, and the white disc removed and replaced with a white outline.