What does the Gibraltar flag represent?

Short answer

The Gibraltar flag shows a red three-towered castle on a white band above a red band, with a gold key hanging from the castle gate. The castle stands for Gibraltar as a fortress and the key for its strategic position as the key to the Mediterranean.

Detailed answer

The flag is based on Gibraltar's coat of arms, granted in 1502 by Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, with the Royal Warrant issued by Queen Isabella I of Castile. Its design has two horizontal bands: white on top at double width, and red below. A red castle with three towers sits in the centre of the white band, and a gold key hangs from the castle gate into the red band.

The castle does not depict any particular building in Gibraltar. It represents the fortress of Gibraltar as a whole. The key reflects the territory's strategic value: the Moors and Spanish regarded Gibraltar as the key to Spain, and the British later saw it as the key to the Mediterranean.

The flag was regularised in 1982. It is unusual among British Overseas Territory flags in having no Union Flag in its design, though the Union Flag is also widely flown in Gibraltar, sometimes officially alongside the Gibraltar flag and the Commonwealth flag. The Governor's flag is a Union Flag defaced with the Gibraltar coat of arms.

You will see the flag everywhere on National Day, 10 September, when homes and offices hang it from windows and balconies and many people dress in red and white.