The musical instrument Erin holds on Montserrat’s flag badge is a harp.
More specifically, the emblem shows a Celtic harp, one of Ireland’s best-known national symbols. Erin, the female personification of Ireland, wears green and holds the harp in one hand while embracing a cross with the other. Together, these images express Montserrat’s strong Irish cultural heritage and Christian tradition.
Montserrat’s flag is a British Blue Ensign with the territory’s coat of arms in the fly. The flag was adopted in 1960, after the dissolution of the British Leeward Islands federation, and the badge was later enlarged and modified in 1999. The white disc surrounding the badge was replaced by a white outline.
The Irish connection comes from settlers who arrived from nearby Saint Kitts beginning in 1632, followed by others from Virginia. In the 1678 census, about 70 percent of the federation’s white inhabitants who were recorded as such claimed Irish ancestry. Montserrat still marks Saint Patrick’s Day as a public holiday, also commemorating a 1768 uprising.