How many times in the history of the world has a 17-year-old schoolgirl designed a nation's flag? Roselle Richardson had this eternal honour on June 13, 1985 when her design was chosen. The island government had promoted a contest and residents were invited to submit a design for a flag. Roselle's drawing was picked from no less than 115 entries. In a simple, yet effective way she managed to mix the three colours of the Dutch flag (red, white and blue) with the coat of arms of Sint Maarten, which contain three important symbols that every local can recognise. The courthouse, the orange-yellow national sage flower and the border monument are all included in the flag. The rising sun completes the upper section and a flying pelican can also be spotted in front of the sun. Underneath, a yellow ribbon with the Latin inscription semper pro Grediens completes the flag. Roughly translated it means: Always Progressing.