The French colonised Saint Lucia in 1635 and subsequently signed a treaty with the local indigenous population 45 years later in 1680. However, the British vied for control with the French, and the island frequently switched hands between the two powers. This continued until 1814, when the Treaty of Paris was signed that saw France permanently relinquish Saint Lucia to the British, and it became a crown colony of the United Kingdom within its colonial empire in that same year. During this colonial period of French and British rule, Saint Lucia did not have its own unique colonial flag.