United States

Baker Island Light

United States Minor Possessions – Pacific Ocean

Baker was discovered in 1818 by Captain Elisha Folger of the Nantucket whaling ship Equator, who called the island “New Nantucket”. In August 1825 Baker was sighted by Captain Obed Starbuck of the Loper, also a Nantucket whaler. The island is named for Michael Baker, who visited the island in 1834. Other references state that he visited in 1832, and again on August 14, 1839, in the whaler Gideon Howland, to bury an American seaman. Captain Baker claimed the island in 1855, then he sold his interest to a group who later formed the American Guano Company.

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CNMI Flag on Our Flagpole

Northern Mariana Islands

The flag of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands was adopted in July 1985, by the Second Northern Marianas Constitution. The NMI flag was originally designed by Taga during the year 1985. Later during that year, they finalized the draft of the flag in the last CNMI constitutional convention. This was the most symbolic moment of the annexation of the CNMI.
The flag consists of three symbols: a star representing the United States, a latte stone representing the Chamorros, and a mwarmwar (decorative wreath) representing the Carolinians; the blue background represents the ocean and the Mariana Trench.

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Flag of American Samoa on Our Flagpole

American Samoa

The colors and symbols of the flag carry cultural, political, and regional meanings.  The red, white and blue represent the colors traditionally utilized by both the United States and Samoa.  The bald eagle represents the U.S. and features on the flag, although it does not live in American Samoa.  It clutches two Samoan symbols, alluding to America’s guardianship over American Samoa, as well as evoking the Great Seal of the United States.  The symbols are a uatogi (a war club, epitomizing the government’s power) and a fue (a fly-whisk, representing the wisdom of traditional Samoan leaders).

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Palmyra Atoll Flag on Our Flagpole

Palmyra Atoll

As is the case with all unorganized territories of the United States, incorporated or not, the official flag of Palmyra Atoll is the flag of the United States. The flag shown is strictly unofficial. I cannot locate any information about the designer of the flag nor when it was created and first flown, if, in fact, it has ever flown on the atoll itself. Guess would be that is was designed by a previous owner or by Nature Conservancy staff, but this is strictly a guess.

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Wake Island Flag on Our Flagpole

Wake Island

The most significant image on the flag is that of a large yellow circle set in the center of the blue section. This circle, reminiscent of a coin or medallion, is emblazoned with a rough map of the island done in blue. Wake Island is written on the top and bottom of this disk in capital letters as well, also in blue. The flag also incorporates another element from the American flag, the presence of stars. The yellow circle is surrounded by three stars. These stars are also yellow in color and each one has five points. The stars are set on the top, bottom, and right side of the circle.

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Midway Atoll

The top is sky blue, the thin stripe is white for the beach and the turquoise bottom stripe is for the color of the surrounding ocean. The bird, a Laysan Albatross, is white and black. It was designed for the Memorial Day 2000 event being held at the USS Arizona. The flag was designed by the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge staff with assistance of a National Park Service employee. This flag has no official status, other than that it will be used to represent Midway Island in a Memorial Day ceremony. The flag has the same status as a small US city’s flag – it is accepted as the flag by the inhabitants even though the federal government hasn’t given the flag official status.

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Puerto Rico Flag on Our Flagpole

Puerto Rico – The Island of Enchantment

Juan de Mata Terreforte, an exiled veteran of “El Grito de Lares” and Vice-President of the Cuban Revolutionary Committee, in New York City, adopted the flag of Lares as the flag of Puerto Rico until 1895, when the current design, modeled after the Cuban flag, was unveiled and adopted by the 59 Puerto Rican exiles of the Cuban Revolutionary committee. The new flag, which consisted of five equal horizontal bands of red (top and bottom) alternating with white; a blue isosceles triangle based on the hoist side bears a large, white, five-pointed star in the center, was first flown in Puerto Rico on March 24, 1897, during the “Intentona de Yauco” revolt. The use and display of the Puerto Rican flag was outlawed and the only flags permitted to be flown in Puerto Rico were the Spanish flag (1492 to 1898) and the flag of the United States (1898 to 1952).

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