Pacific Ocean Islands

Vanuatu 1

Vanuatu

The flag of Vanuatu was adopted on 18 February 1980.

In 1977 a flag of almost the same colors and symbolism as the future national flag was designed by local artist Kalontas Malon and adopted by the Vanua’aku Pati. When the party led the New Hebrides to independence as Vanuatu in 1980, the colors of the party flag (red, green, black and yellow) were chosen to be the basis for the national flag on Independence Day, 30 July 1980. A parliamentary committee chose the final design based on submissions from local artists.

Pitcairn Islands 2

Pitcairn Islands

The coat of arms of the Pitcairn Islands was granted by royal warrant dated 4 November 1969. The flag of the Pitcairn Islands was adopted on 2 April 1984. The design was suggested by the Pitcairn Island Council in December 1980 and approved by Queen Elizabeth II in April 1984. The flag was flown on Pitcairn for the first time in May 1984, during a visit by the then Governor, Sir Richard Stratton (1980—84)

Tuvalu 3

Tuvalu

Like many former and current British dependencies, the Tuvaluan flag is a blue ensign based on the Union Flag, which is shown in the canton of the flag; but has a sky blue field rather than the conventional blue. The previous flag (with the Gilberts) was also based on the Union Flag but with the coat of arms created by Sir Arthur Grimble in 1932, the resident commissioner of the British colony.

The stars represent the nine islands which comprise Tuvalu; the arrangement is geographically correct, with the east towards the top (i.e. north to the left).

Solomon Islands 5

Solomon Islands

he flag of the Solomon Islands consists of a thin yellow diagonal stripe divided diagonally from the lower hoist-side corner, with a blue upper triangle and green lower triangle, and the canton charged with five white stars. Adopted in 1977 to replace the British Blue Ensign defaced with the arms of the protectorate, it has been the flag of the Solomon Islands since 18 November of that year, eight months before the country gained independence. Although the number of provinces has since increased, the number of stars on the flag that originally represented them remained unchanged.

Philippines 7

Philippines

The Philippine national flag has a rectangular design that consists of a white equilateral triangle, symbolizing liberty, equality and fraternity; a horizontal blue stripe for peace, truth, and justice; and a horizontal red stripe for patriotism and valor. In the center of the white triangle is an eight-rayed golden sun symbolizing unity, freedom, people’s democracy, and sovereignty. Each ray represents a province with significant involvement in the 1896 Philippine Revolution against Spain; these provinces are Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Pampanga, Morong (modern-day province of Rizal), Laguna, Batangas, and Nueva Ecija.

Papua New Guinea 8

Papua New Guinea

The flag of Papua New Guinea was adopted on 1 July 1971. In the hoist, it depicts the Southern Cross; in the fly, a raggiana bird-of-paradise is silhouetted. The design was chosen through a nationwide design competition in early 1971. The winning designer was Susan Karike Huhume, who was 15 at the time.

Red and black have long been traditional colours of many Papua New Guinean tribes. Black-white-red was the colour of the German Empire flag, which had colonised New Guinea prior to 1918. The bird-of-paradise is also found on the national coat-of-arms.

Prior to independence, the Australian administration proposed a vertical tricolour flag with blue, yellow and green bands, along with the bird of paradise and southern cross, designed by Hal Holman. It had a mainly negative reception, due to its appearance as that of a “mechanically contrived outcome”, thus the alternative proposal attributed to Susan Karike was chosen instead. The blue was said to represent the sea and islands of New Guinea, the Southern Cross was a guide for the travelling peoples, the gold represented the coastlines, mineral wealth, and unity, and the green represented the forested highlands and mainland, with the Bird of Paradise representing the unification under one nation.

The Southern Cross shows that it is a country in the Southern Hemisphere and can be seen in Papua New Guinea.

Palau 9

Palau

The explanation for the choice of colors is rooted in the history and customs of the Palauan people. The light blue of the field symbolizes the Pacific Ocean, and also represents the transition from foreign domination to self-government. The golden disk, which sits slightly off-center toward the hoist, represents the full moon. The Palauans consider the full moon to be the optimum time for human activity. At this time of the month, celebrations, fishing, sowing, harvesting, tree-felling, and the carving of traditional canoes are carried out. The moon is a symbol of peace, love, and tranquility.

Tokelau 10

Tokelau

In June 2007 the regional parliament (General Fono) decided over the future flag, anthem and national symbol of Tokelau. The proposed flag depicted a stylized Polynesian canoe and four stars. The stars represent the three main islands and also Swains Island, administered by the United States (American Samoa) but claimed by Tokelau. As the required supermajority was not reached in the 2007 self-determination referendum, the flag was not officially adopted.

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