A pair of flip-flop slippers with the Jamaican flag on the insole.

Adrian Frater, News Editor

Western Bureau:

It would appear that commercialism is trampling on the protocol governing the use of the Jamaican flag, as several brands of flip flop slippers, including the Brazilian manufactured and designed Havaianas, have seemingly crossed the line.

The slippers, which are being sold in shopping areas across the island, prominently display the Jamaican flag on various sections, including the insole, which some people say, appears to violate the protocol governing the flag, which states, "The flag should never be allowed to touch the ground or floor."

However, efforts by The Sunday Gleaner, to get on the record comments from officials of the Office of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Commerce and Technology as to whether or not the companies involved in the production and distribution of the slippers had local ties, proved futile.

National symbols

"Technically, it would appear that they are operating in breach of the rules governing national symbols, but I am not the competent authority to comment on it," an officer at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told The Sunday Gleaner on Friday. "You could check with the Office of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Commerce and Technology or the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office (JIPO) to see if they know anything about it."

While officials at the Office of the Prime Minister and the Ministy of Commerce and Technology were generally evasive, JIPO officials said that while they could not speak specifically to Havaianas or any other company producing the slippers in question, the Jamaica Trademark Act of 1999 strictly prohibits them from registering organisation using national symbols unless a government waiver was obtained.

"Section 12-1 of the act states that, 'a trademark which contains a representation of the coat of arms of Jamaica, the national flag of Jamaica and other national symbols shall not be registered ...," quoted Edward Brightly, an official of JIPO. "Anyone desirous of using a national symbol on their product must first get government permission or we will not register them."

However, it would appear that while JIPO is mandated to prevent unauthorised use of our national symbols, and that goods produced outside of Jamaica could enter the local market legally through Customs without any considerations about the use, misuse and abuse of the country's national symbols.

"The law gives us the authority to act for the government agency we work with, and from time to time they will ask us to look out for and confiscate restricted items," said a senior customs official at the Sangster International Airport, in Montego Bay. "However, unless we are so instructed, we cannot act on our own and prevent any item from coming in the island."

regulatory agencies

The custom officials, who asked not be identified, said he had personally seen the slippers, but he was unaware of any instructions to block them from coming into the island. He also noted that they were not empowered to bring any such matter to the attention of the regulatory agencies.

Shirley Smith, a Montego Bay higgler, who sells the flip-flop slippers, said she was unaware of the protocol governing how the Jamaica flag should be treated. However, she was quick to point out that it would probably have not made a difference to her.

"The more slippers I sell is the more money I will have to take care of my children," said Ms. Smith. "A lot of people are doing worst things than walking on the Jamaican flag and I don't see anybody making any fuss about it."

Efforts to contact Havaianas, which has been designing flip-flop slippers since 1962 and has reportedly sold over 2.2 billion pairs of Havaianas in the 42-years history, has proven futile as it could not be uncertain whether or not the company has a local agent or official distributor.

Within recent years, numerous concerns have been raised about the use of the flag, which various individual have sought to use without concerns or consideration about appropriateness. In the wave of patriotism, which followed Jamaica historic qualification for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, many motorists adorned their cars with the national flag.

However, in the instances where the flags were allowed to become tattered through continuous exposure to the elements, a number of Jamaicans voiced concerns about the public display of the tattered and torn flags.

Code for use of the Jamaican Flag