Remembering Heroes Square: A Monument to Caymanian Resilience

On the morning of 26 January 2026, a parade stepped off from the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service headquarters in George Town and wound its way toward Heroes Square. Governor Jane Owen, Premier André Ebanks, and Leader of the Opposition Joey Hew stood among the spectators as the Cayman Islands Coast Guard, the Regiment, the Fire Service, the Girls Brigade, Scouts, and Cadet Corps passed in formation. Behind the marching bands and uniformed ranks came a quieter kind of procession: representatives of 24 private companies, statutory authorities, and government companies, there to receive a group award called the Builders of Cayman. The ceremony was National Heroes Day 2026, and its theme — Building a better Cayman — posed a question that runs deeper than any single parade route: what does it mean to treat nation-building as a form of heroism?

Heroes Square, the plaza at the heart of George Town where these ceremonies unfold, is not a monument in the sense of bronze statues or marble columns. It is a civic space, used for gatherings, commemorations, and the annual ritual of naming who counts as a national hero. For a visitor walking through on an ordinary Tuesday, the square may look like little more than a shaded public plaza. But the 2026 ceremony made visible what the square stands for: a particular Caymanian idea of resilience, one that links nationhood to infrastructure, law, and economic self-determination.

The 2026 ceremony was not an isolated event. It belongs to a longer history of how Caymanians have chosen to remember — and define — the people who shaped the islands.

Building a Better Cayman: The 2026 Ceremony as a Window

National Heroes Day has been observed in the Cayman Islands since 2003, when the National Heroes Act was passed. The 2026 ceremony was notable for the scale of its group honours. The Builders of Cayman award went to 24 entities — private companies, statutory authorities, and government-owned enterprises — whose work spans decades of infrastructure development. Alongside them, 44 individuals were named Infrastructure Innovators, a new category of recognition that signals a shift in how the islands define contributions to nationhood.

Premier André Ebanks, speaking at the ceremony, described the transformation of the Cayman Islands as a move from being “the land that time forgot” to a place on the world stage. The phrase is striking — not because it is unique to Cayman, but because it frames national progress as a deliberate, collective project. The Cayman Compass report on the event noted that the Premier’s message explicitly linked heroism to projects “bigger than themselves.”

This framing raises an obvious question: is infrastructure development really a form of heroism? The answer, in the Caymanian context, is bound up with the islands’ particular history. The Cayman Islands had no paved roads, no deep-water harbour, and no secondary schools until the mid-20th century. Building those things — often against the constraints of a small population, limited natural resources, and periodic hurricanes — required sustained effort across generations. The 2026 ceremony honoured that effort explicitly.

Benson Obadiah Ebanks: The New National Hero

The centrepiece of the 2026 ceremony was the naming of Benson Obadiah Ebanks (1935–2022) as a national hero. Ebanks served in the Legislative Assembly from 1965 to 1976 and again from 1980 to 1992. During his tenure, he pushed through the Caymanian Protection Law and the Local Companies (Control) Law — legislation that aimed to safeguard Caymanian ownership and employment in a rapidly globalising economy. He was also the first president of the Cayman Islands Chamber of Commerce, serving from 1965 to 1967, and advocated for the adoption of a Caymanian currency valued higher than the US dollar.

Ebanks’s recognition places him alongside 13 previous national heroes, whose wreaths were laid during the ceremony. Francine Eldona Jackson, the only surviving national hero, attended the event — a rare living connection to the earliest cohort of honourees. The fact that Jackson is the sole survivor among the named heroes underscores how recent the national heroes system is, and how quickly the ranks are thinning.

Who Gets Remembered

The process of naming a national hero in the Cayman Islands is governed by the National Heroes Act, but the criteria have evolved over time. The 2026 ceremony broadened the scope to include group recognition for infrastructure work, which is a departure from the earlier practice of honouring individuals for specific achievements. This expansion is still debated: some observers argue that heroism should remain an individual honour, while others contend that the collective nature of nation-building demands a wider net.

One unresolved question is whether the current system risks overlooking less visible forms of contribution — cultural preservation, oral history, environmental stewardship — that do not leave a physical footprint. The 2026 ceremony’s focus on infrastructure was explicit, but it also raised the question of whether the “builder” metaphor can accommodate every kind of national contribution.

From “The Land That Time Forgot”

The Premier’s phrase — “the land that time forgot” — is worth pausing on. It echoes a common colonial-era characterisation of Caribbean islands as backward or isolated. The Cayman Islands were indeed sparsely populated and economically marginal for much of their history. But the phrase also serves as a foil for the narrative of resilience that the 2026 ceremony sought to celebrate. The story the ceremony told was one of deliberate transformation: a community that built its way out of obscurity.

That narrative has real weight. The construction projects Ebanks championed — a new port, the Legislative Assembly building, the courthouse, six primary schools, and roadworks connecting West Bay to Bodden Town — are the physical scaffolding of a modern society. The roadworks alone, which linked the western and central districts, changed how Caymanians moved, worked, and traded. The schools expanded access to education for a generation that had previously had limited options beyond primary level.

But resilience narratives can also be selective. The 2026 ceremony did not address, for example, the environmental costs of rapid development, or the social dislocations that accompanied economic growth. The monuments and plaques in Heroes Square tell one version of the story. The full history is more complicated.

Context and Comparison: How Other Small Islands Remember

The Cayman Islands are not alone in using a national heroes system to define civic identity. Across the Caribbean, similar frameworks exist in Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Bahamas. But the Caymanian approach has a distinctive feature: the emphasis on infrastructure and economic development as a category of heroic achievement.

The comparison highlights a key difference: most Caribbean nations reserve national hero status for individuals who have made transformative contributions in politics, culture, or sport. The Cayman Islands’ inclusion of infrastructure developers and private companies as honourees is unusual. It reflects a pragmatic, development-oriented strain of nationalism that is closely tied to the islands’ economic trajectory.

Questions Readers Ask

Is Heroes Square just a tourist attraction?

No. Heroes Square is a working civic space in George Town, used for government ceremonies, public gatherings, and the annual National Heroes Day parade. It is not a museum or ticketed site. Visitors can walk through it at any time, but its significance is most visible during official events.

Can anyone become a Cayman Islands national hero?

The process is governed by the National Heroes Act, but the criteria are not rigidly codified. Nominations can come from the public, and the final decision rests with the government. The 2026 ceremony showed that the definition is expanding to include group contributions, not just individual achievements.

Why was Benson Ebanks chosen over other figures?

Ebanks was recognised for his combined impact on legislation, infrastructure, and economic policy. His laws protecting Caymanian ownership and employment, his role in building schools and a port, and his advocacy for a strong Caymanian currency made him a figure who embodied the 2026 theme of “Building a better Cayman.”

Are there any controversies about the heroes system?

Some observers have questioned whether the infrastructure focus overlooks contributions in the arts, environmental conservation, and community organising. The 2026 ceremony’s expansion of categories suggests the government is aware of these gaps, but no formal criteria for non-infrastructure contributions have been published.

How does National Heroes Day relate to other Caymanian traditions?

National Heroes Day is one of several public holidays that reinforce Caymanian identity. Others include Constitution Day and Discovery Day. The day is marked by a parade, a ceremony at Heroes Square, and the announcement of new honours. Beyond the Beaches: Exploring the Soul of Caymanian Culture offers a broader look at how these traditions fit together.

A Space That Asks Questions

Heroes Square, in the end, is not a monument that supplies easy answers. It is a place where the Cayman Islands ask themselves — annually, publicly — who counts as a builder of the nation. The 2026 ceremony answered that question in part by honouring 44 infrastructure innovators, 24 companies, and a legislator who paved roads and passed laws. But the ceremony also left the question open, as it must, because the nation is still being built. The square’s real function is not to close the conversation but to stage it. For a deeper look at the customs and social practices that surround Caymanian public life, A Guide to Caymanian Etiquette: Navigating Local Customs with Respect offers a practical companion to the ceremonial side of island culture.

Sources and further reading

Cayman Compass. “Builders honoured and new national hero named at National Heroes Day 2026.” 27 January 2026. 🔗

Related reading on IslandHopperGuides

The Art of Seafaring: Exploring the Techniques and Traditions of Caymanian Boatbuilding — explores the maritime skills that shaped Caymanian resilience before the era of paved roads and ports.

Guardian Traditions: Unmasking the Stories Behind Caymanian Folklore — examines the oral traditions and beliefs that anchor Caymanian identity outside official monuments.

The Influence of Pirates on Caymanian Culture: Fact, Fiction, and Lasting Legacy — separates historical reality from romanticised myth in the islands’ pirate-era heritage.

Talking Cayman: Decoding the Islands’ Unique Dialect — a guide to the distinctive language variety that carries much of Cayman’s cultural memory.

Uncover Island Stories: Explore Cayman’s Cultural Roots — a broader survey of the historical layers that shape the islands’ present.

Caymanian Architecture: Exploring Vernacular Design and Sustainable Practices — looks at the built environment as a record of adaptation and resilience, from traditional structures to contemporary design.