Death in Paradise

Last modified: 2025-03-08 by peter hans van den muijzenberg
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• Introduction
• Flag
• Coat of Arms
• Police Vessel Pennant
• Saint Marie Yacht Club

• Fictional flags

Introduction

Death in Paradise is a British-French detective series, meanwhile (in German TV) the 8th series is performed. The detective and the members of his police team have changed frequently. Only the Police Commissioner and the Mayor of Saint Marie, owner of a bar and mother of the 1st detective sergeant, remained. Each series has eight episodes. There are also a few Christmas Specials.
Gathering the suspects and unmasking the murderer at the end by the team is performed in style of the famous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, created by Agatha Christie.
The location, Saint Marie Island in the Caribbean, and its capital Honoré, also seat of the police precinct, are fictious, furthermore the harbour of Port Royal.
In episode 3.3 the island appears on a map. Marie-Galante, Saint-Marie, Spinner´s Rock (a small islet relevant to this episode), and Saint Robert, an island smaller than Saint Marie, can be described as being on a straight line between Guadelope and Dominica in that order, from the most northern to the most southern.
Saint Marie is a British Overseas Territory, that was overhanded to the British by the French in the 1970s. As a result English and French are the languages, about 30% of its people are French citizens, the other about 70% are British citzens.
Saint Marie island has some 10000 inhabitants and its size is about 160 km² (= 62 sq mi). Deshaies in the Northwest of Guadeloupe is the capital Honoré in real life.
For further information click English WIKIPEDIA
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 6 Mar 2025

It is a banner of arms with ratio 1:2. The flag is parted per bend sinister of red over green, divided by a black bend sinister fimbriated yellow and charged with three yellow 5-point stars, in the canton is the yellow silhouette of St. Marie Island, in the lower fly is a yellow flying sinister facing colibri.
The flag is obviously inspired by the national flag of Saint Kitts and Nevis.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 25 Mar 2019

It is a Samnitic (or French) shield, charged with the flag pattern. The attached photo shows, that it is topped by three flags: United Kingdom (dexter), and thus obviously in pre-Brexit times, Saint Marie (centre) and Europe (sinister).
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 25 Mar 2019

Police Vessel Pennant

The ratio is something between 3:7 and 3:8. It is a rectangular pennant rounded at the fly end. The pennant is blue, displaying from hoist to fly the badge of the Saint Marie Police and a white unserifed inscription "POLICE".

Police Badge

The shield is parted per pale of red, white and blue, charged with the yellow colibri mentioned above, surrounded by a white inscription "POLICE" (on chief) "SAINT MARIE" (on orle in base). The shield is cotised black-yellow and topped by a British royal crown. The basic colours red, white and blue are referring to Saint Marie´s former colonial powers France, Netherlands and the United Kingdom (reported in the very 1st episode by the Police Commissioner Selwyn Patterson).
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 25 Mar 2019

Saint Marie Yacht Club

It is a red pennant with a serifed white inscription "SMYC".
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 25 Mar 2019

back to Fictional flags on Television click here