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 symbolizes the dawning of a new era. The colors have different meanings, the black is for the African ancestry of the people, the blue for hope, the red for energy. The sucessive coloring of yellow, blue and white (from the sun down) also stands for the sun, sea and sand, giving a creative aspect to the flag.