Saint Lucia Independence Day is celebrated on 22 February each year to commemorate the country’s independence from the British rule.
Saint Lucia is a small island nation located in the Eastern Caribbean Sea, first settled by the Arawaks and later by the Caribs.
The French and the British fought over the island with control changing hands 14 times before it was officially ceded to the British in 1814.
Saint Lucia obtained representative government through the introduction of an elective element into the legislative council with the 1924 constitution.
In 1958, the country joined the West Indies Federation, and in 1967 it became a self-governing island as one of the six members of the West Indies Associated States.
After the federation dissolved on 31 May 1962, Saint Lucia assumed the status of association with the United Kingdom on 1 March 1967. The first elections after independence were won by the left-leaning Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP), which established relations with Cuba and joined the nonaligned movement.
Saint Lucia gained independence on 22 February 1979. The country’s national day, however, is celebrated on December 13, the Feast Day of Saint Lucia, the patron saint of the island.
In 1982, the United Workers’ Party (UWP) was voted into power on a platform of inviting foreign investment and decentralising government administration. The agricultural sector was gradually rebuilt under the UWP government.
The country’s flag, adopted in 1967, has blue representing the sky and sea, yellow signifying sunshine, and black and white symbolising the harmony between the white and black races on the island. The Pitons, two famous volcanic cones located in the southwest part of the island, are also represented by triangles on the flag.
