The current flag was officialized when the nation became a crown colony of the United Kingdom in 1968. The design is a unique horizontally divided one. Red represents blood shed for independence, blue, the Indian Ocean, yellow, the shining new light of independence that falls on the island or the sun and future, and green, national land and rich agriculture such as the sugar trees. Also, the four stripes represent the main ethnic groups - Indians, African black people, European Caucasian people, and the Chinese.