Flag of Vanuatu

Vanuatu

Flag of Vanuatu
Use	National flag, civil and state ensign
Proportion	19:36
Adopted	18 February 1980
Design	a horizontal bicolor of red and green with a black isosceles triangle based on the hoist side bearing a boar's tusk encircling two crossed namele fern fronds in the center and a gold pall, a thin yellow narrow horizontal stripe that splits in the shape of a horizontal Y, centered over the partition lines and was edged in black against the red and the green bands while the two points of the Y faces on each corner and encloses the triangle on the hoist-side.

The flag of Vanuatu was adopted on 18 February 1980.

When the Vanua'aku Pati led the New Hebrides to independence as Vanuatu in 1980, the colours of the party flag (red, green, black and yellow) were chosen to be the basis for the national flag. A parliamentary committee chose the final design based on submissions from local artists.^[1]

Symbolism

Tusk and fern detail

The green represents the richness of the islands, the red symbolises the blood of wild boars and men, and the black the ni-Vanuatu people. The Prime Minister of Vanuatu, Father Walter Lini, requested the inclusion of yellow and black fimbriations to make the black stand out. The yellow Y-shape represents the light of the gospel going through the pattern of the islands in the Pacific Ocean (approximately 83% of the people of Vanuatu profess Christianity).^[1]

The emblem in the black is a boar's tusk — the symbol of prosperity worn as a pendant on the islands — along with two leaves of the local namele Cycad. The leaves are supposed to be a token of peace, and their 39 leaflets represent the 39 members [sic] of the Parliament of Vanuatu.^[1]

Construction

With a flag width of 180 units, the width of the triangle, from hoist to point, should be 84 units. The height of the flag will thus be 95 units, with the yellow band being 5 units tall, the gold fimbriations are each 6 units tall and the upper and lower (red and green) parts of the field are, thus, 39 units tall each.^[1]

Other flags of Vanuatu

• 

  Naval Ensign^[1]

• 

  Presidential Standard^[1]

1. ^ ^{a b} Cite error: The named reference FotW was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

Subnational flags from Vanuatu

• 

  Flag of Penama Province^[1]

• 

  Flag of Sanma Province^[2]

• 

  Flag of Shefa Province^[3]

• 

  Reconstructed secessionist flag of the Tafea Nation^[4]

• 

  Flag of the island of Tanna, in Tafea Province, and of its secessionist movement^[5]

1. ^ "Penama Province (Vanuatu)". Flags of the World. 13 April 2013. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
2. ^ "Sanma Province (Vanuatu)". Flags of the World. 18 December 2013. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
3. ^ "Shefa Province (Vanuatu)". Flags of the World. 8 July 2006. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
4. ^ "TAFEA Nation (Vanuatu)". Flags of the World. 21 February 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
5. ^ "Nation of Tanna (Vanuatu)". Flags of the World. 20 July 2013. Retrieved 2 August 2014.

Historical flags of the New Hebrides

• 

  Flag of the Anglo-French Joint Naval Commission (1887–1906)^[1]

• 

  Flag of the British New Hebrides (1906–53, with the Tudor Crown)^[1]

• 

  Flag of the British Resident Commissioner (1906–53, Tudor Crown)^[1]

• 

  Flag of the British New Hebrides (1953–80, with St Edward's Crown)^[1]

• 

  Flag of the British Resident Commissioner (1953–80, St Edward's Crown)^[1]

• 

  Flag attested as being used in the 1963 South Pacific Games^[1]

• 

  Flag attested as being used in the 1966 South Pacific Games^[1]

• 

  Flag of the ephemeral Republic of Vemerana (1980)^[2]

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} "Historical Flags (Vanuatu)". Flags of the World. 10 June 2011. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
2. ^ "State of Vemerana (Vanuatu)". Flags of the World. 14 February 2007. Retrieved 2 August 2014.

See also

• Coat of arms of Vanuatu
• Flag of Tuva (created 1992) which closely resembles the flag of Vanuatu.
• Flag of South Africa (adopted 1994) which also closely resembles the flag of Vanuatu.

References and external links

1. "Vanuatu". Flags of the World. 20 November 2013. Retrieved 2 August 2014.

• "Vanuatu". The World Factbook. United States Central Intelligence Agency. 20 June 2014. Retrieved 2 August 2014.