Guadeloupe has no flag with official status other than the French national flag.
A locally used unofficial flag, based on the coat of arms of Guadeloupe’s capital Basse-Terre has a black or red field with a yellow sun and a green sugar cane, and a blue stripe with yellow fleurs-de-lis on the top.
The French Southern and Antarctic Lands have formed a territoire d’outre-mer (an overseas territory) of France since 1955. Formerly, they were administered from Paris by an administrateur supérieur assisted by a secretary-general; since December 2004, however, their administrator has been a préfet, currently Cécile Pozzo di Borgo, with headquarters in Saint-Pierre on Réunion Island.
Two red horizontal bands encase a wide white band in a 1:2:1 ratio; centered on the white band is a 0.43m diameter disk with a blue and white wave pattern depicting the sea on the lower half and a gold and white ray pattern depicting the sun on the upper half; a Polynesian canoe rides on the wave pattern; the canoe has a crew of five represented by five stars that symbolize the five island groups; red and white are traditional Polynesian colors.
The flag of Corsica was adopted by General of the Nation Pasquale Paoli in 1755 and was based on a traditional flag used previously. It portrays a Moor’s head in black wearing a white bandana above his eyes on a white background. Previously, the bandana covered his eyes; Pasquale Paoli wanted the bandana moved to above the eyes to symbolize the liberation of the Corsican people from the Genoese.
It was used by the Corsican Republic and fell out of usage after 1769, when France forced the island’s former masters to sell it to settle the debts contracted by Genoa with France. This was to pay the costs of the French expeditionary corps which should have helped Genoa to secure its control on Corsica; French troops put down the long-standing rebellion on the island. During this period under French rule, 1769–1789, Corsican patriots again used the version of the flag with blindfolded eyes, as a mark of protest.
The unblindfolded version, quartered with the British coat of arms, was used as the official flag during the Anglo-Corsican Kingdom of 1794-1796. It then fell into disuse until 1980, when it was officially re-adopted as the regional flag.
The Moor’s head is also used on the coat of arms of Corsica, the flag of the neighboring Sardinia, the coat of arms of Aragon, and on the crest of Clan Borthwick.
The flag of Åland is the Swedish flag defaced by a red cross symbolizing Finland. Today, blue and white are considered the Finnish colours, but in the early days of Finnish nationalism, red and yellow from the Finnish coat of arms was also an option.
The flag has been the official flag of the autonomous Finnish province of Åland since 1954. It was first hoisted on 3 April 1954.
Prior to autonomy, an unofficial horizontal bicolour triband of blue-yellow-blue was in use. That flag was made illegal in 1935.
The flag’s bright blue background symbolizes the Pacific Ocean, which plays an important part in the lives of the islanders, both in terms of the fishing industry, and the huge tourist trade. The Union Jack reflects the country’s links with the United Kingdom. The shield is derived from the country’s coat of arms, which was granted by Royal Warrant in 1908. It is a white shield with a red cross and a red chief (upper third of a shield). The images depicted on the shield represent agricultural activities on the islands, and the historical associations with the United Kingdom. At the top of the shield, a British lion holds a cocoa pod between its paws. The first quarter is sugar cane, second quarter is a coconut palm, the third quarter is a dove of peace, and the fourth quarter is a bunch of bananas.
Annobon is of strategic importance to Equatorial Guinea as through its ownership the Equatorial Guinean government claims extensive maritime territory to the south of its neighbour, São Tomé and Príncipe (which itself lies to the south of Equatorial Guinea’s main land mass). Oil in the Gulf of Guinea represents more than 80% of Equatorial Guinea’s economy, though supplies from current reserves are predicted by some sources to run out before 2020. Although no drilling is currently taking place in São Tomé, there are estimated to be 34 billion barrels (5.4×109 m3) of oil within its marine borders. Equatorial Guinea claims the right to explore for and produce hydrocarbons in a huge area of sea surrounding Annobón that stretches from 1°N to almost 5°S, and from 2°E to 7°E, an area larger than the entire land and sea borders of the rest of Equatorial Guinea.
The flag of Equatorial Guinea was adopted on August 21, 1979. The six stars on the map represent the country’s mainland and five islands. Under the rule of dictator Francisco Nguema the flag was modified and a different national emblem was used on it. After he was deposed the original flag was restored.
The flag is a horizontal tricolor, with green, white and red stripes and a blue triangle at the hoist. Green symbolizes the natural resources, agriculture and jungles of the country. Blue symbolizes the sea, which connects the main country with the islands. White symbolizes peace. Red symbolizes the blood shed by the fighters for independence.
The national flag of Ecuador, which consists of horizontal bands of yellow (double width), blue and red, was first adopted by law in 1835 and later on 26 September 1860. The design of the current flag was finalized in 1900 with the addition of the coat of arms in the center of the flag. Before using the yellow, blue and red tricolor, Ecuador used white and blue flags that contained stars for each province of the country. The design of the flag is very similar to those of Colombia and Venezuela, which are also former constituent territories of Gran Colombia. All three are based on a proposal by Venezuelan General Francisco de Miranda, which was adopted by Venezuela in 1811 and later Gran Colombia with some modifications. There is a variant of the flag that does not contain the coat of arms that is used by the merchant marine. This flag matches Colombia’s in every aspect, but Colombia uses a different design when her merchant marine ships are at sail.
The green field represents the lush vegetation of the island. The cross represents the Trinity and Christianity, with its three colours symbolising the natives, the fertile soil, and the pure water. The 10 green five-pointed stars stand for the country’s 10 parishes: (St Andrew, St David, St George, St John, St Joseph, St Luke, St Mark, St Patrick, St Paul, and St Peter), while the red disc stands for justice.
The sisserou parrot is sometimes colored either blue or purple (the parrot’s actual color). The use of purple makes the flag of Dominica one of only two flags of sovereign states (alongside the flag of Nicaragua) to contain the color.