 Flag of the Gambier Islands | |
| Proportion | 2:3 |
|---|---|
| Adopted | 1837 |
| Design | Three horizontal stripes of equal width in the order white-blue-white charged with a blue star in each corner and a white star in the middle. |
| Designed by | Armand Mauruc |
The Flag of the Gambier Islands is the flag of the Gambier Islands of French Polynesia in the Pacific Ocean, administered by France. It was created in 1832 and adopted in 1837. [1] [2]
The flag of the Gambier Islands is divided into three horizontal bands, with white on the top and bottom and blue in the middle. There is a blue five-pointed star in each of the four corners and one white five-pointed star in the center. Each of the stars represent one of the major islands in the group, with the blue stars representing Mangareva, Taravai, Aukena, and Akamaru, and the white star representing the islet Temoe, which is geographically distant from the others. [2] The blue represents the sea while the white represents purity, and evangelism. [3] The blue and white may also relate to the distinctive color of the local churches.
The flag was originally described as "sky blue," but the ruling party of French Polynesia has declared azure the official color. This is likely because sky blue is associated with the opposition party and independence movement. [4]
Conflict between Chile and Peru in the early 1830s disrupted trade in the Pacific. A mother-of-pearl trader named Armand Mauruc was flying under a Chilean flag but, wishing to avoid conflict, requested King Maputeoa adopt the Gambier national flag, which he did. [1] [5] Mauruc is sometimes credited as the creator, but French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville likely designed the flag for the island of Mangareva some years before it was adopted for the Gambier Islands. [1]
The flag was used for the Gambier Islands until 1844, when the islands were placed under French protectorate and the French tricolor became its official symbol. The French flag remained the only official symbol of the Gambier Islands until 4 December 1985 when the government ruled flags of the archipelagos and islands could flown next to the national and territorial flag. [6]
The national flag of France is a tricolour featuring three vertical bands coloured blue, white, and red. It is known to English speakers as the Tricolour, although the flag of Ireland and others are also so known. The design was adopted after the French Revolution, where the revolutionaries were influenced by the horizontally striped red-white-blue flag of the Netherlands. While not the first tricolour, it became one of the most influential flags in history. The tricolour scheme was later adopted by many other nations in Europe and elsewhere, and, according to the Encyclopædia Britannica has historically stood "in symbolic opposition to the autocratic and clericalist royal standards of the past".
The flag of Quebec, called the Fleurdelisé, represents the Canadian province of Quebec. It consists of a white cross on a blue background, with four white fleurs-de-lis.
National colours are frequently part of a country's set of national symbols. Many states and nations have formally adopted a set of colours as their official "national colours" while others have de facto national colours that have become well known through popular use. National colours often appear on a variety of different media, from the nation's flag to the colours used in sports. Before World War I, they also served as the colors of different military uniforms for each nation or region.
The national flag of Ivory Coast is a tricolor flag consisting of equal bands of orange, white, and green. The proportions of the flag are 2:3. It is the national emblem of the Republic of Ivory Coast as affirmed in Article 29 of the Constitution of Ivory Coast in 1960.
The national flag of Algeria consists of two equal vertical bars, green and white, charged in the center with a red star and crescent, a symbol of Islam as the nation's prominent faith. The flag was adopted on 3 July 1962. A similar version was used by the Algerian government in exile from 1958 to 1962. The Western blazon is per pale vert and argent; a crescent and star gules.
The flag of Tunisia is a rectangular panel of red color with an aspect ratio of 2:3. In the center of the cloth in a white circle is placed a red crescent, surrounding a red five-pointed star on three sides. The Tunisian Bey Hussein II decided to create a flag for Tunisia, close in appearance to the modern one, after the Battle of Navarino on 20 October 1827; in 1831 he was officially approved. In that form, the flag existed during the French protectorate, and on 1 June 1959, it was proclaimed the state flag of the Republic of Tunisia. On 30 June 1999, the proportions and design of the flag were clarified by a special law. The general appearance of the flag remained virtually unchanged.
The flag of French Polynesia is the civil and state flag of the French overseas country French Polynesia. It was adopted in 1984. According to the articles of adoption, the flag of French Polynesia must be displayed with the French tricolor, and may be displayed with the flags of the component archipelagos. The French Polynesian flag must be displayed to the left of the French flag, and the flag of the archipelago must be displayed to its right.
The flag of Haiti is the national flag of the Republic of Haiti. It is a bicolour flag featuring two horizontal bands coloured blue and red, emblazoned by a white rectangular panel bearing the coat of arms of Haiti. The coat of arms depicts a trophy of weapons atop a green hill and a royal palm symbolizing independence. The palm is topped by the Cap of Liberty. The motto L'Union fait la Force appears on a white ribbon below the arrangement.
The Tuamotu Archipelago or the Tuamotu Islands are a French Polynesian chain of just under 80 islands and atolls in the southern Pacific Ocean. They constitute the largest chain of atolls in the world, extending over an area roughly the size of Western Europe. Their combined land area is 850 square kilometres. This archipelago's major islands are Anaa, Fakarava, Hao and Makemo.
Mangareva is the central and largest island of the Gambier Islands in French Polynesia. It is surrounded by smaller islands: Taravai in the southwest, Aukena and Akamaru in the southeast, and islands in the north. Mangareva has a permanent population of 1,239 (2012) and the largest village on the island, Rikitea, is the chief town of the Gambier Islands.
The Gambier Islands are an archipelago in French Polynesia, located at the southeast terminus of the Tuamotu archipelago. They cover an area of 27.8 km2 or 10.7 sq mi, and are made up of the Mangareva Islands, a group of high islands remnants of a caldera along with islets on the surrounding fringing reef, and the uninhabited Temoe atoll, which is located 45 km south-east of the Mangareva Islands. The Gambiers are generally considered a separate island group from Tuamotu both because their culture and language (Mangarevan) are much more closely related to those of the Marquesas Islands, and because, while the Tuamotus comprise several chains of coral atolls, the Mangareva Islands are of volcanic origin with central high islands.
The flag of the Marquesas Islands is the flag chosen by the regional government to represent the islands. However, it is not formally recognized by France, the administrative government of the region.
The flag of Martinique consists of a red triangle at the hoist, with two horizontal bands, the upper green and the lower black. It was adopted on 2 February 2023. The flag of France, its parent country, is also flown with official standing due to Martinique's status as a French overseas department/region. The assembly of Martinique flies a flag with the collectivity's logo on it to represent the government.
The emblem of French Polynesia consists of an outrigger depicted in a disc over a stylized emblem of sun and sea. The emblem is placed prominently in the middle of the flag of French Polynesia.
The flag of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands is a flag representing the overseas territory of France consisting of Adélie Land, the Crozet Islands, the Kerguelen Islands, Saint Paul and Amsterdam Islands, and the Scattered Islands. The flag was adopted on 23 February 2007.
The Flag of the Austral Islands is the flag representing the Austral Islands, a constituent of French Polynesia in the Pacific Ocean administered by France.
Tiripone Mama Taira Putairi, SS.CC., (1846–1881) was educated by French missionaries from birth and became the first indigenous Roman Catholic priest ordained in Eastern Polynesia. He was part of the native royal family of Mangareva, and his father Bernardo Putairi was the island's last ruling regent.
Gambier is a commune of French Polynesia in the administrative subdivision of the Tuamotu-Gambier Islands. The commune includes the Gambier Islands as well as several atolls in the Tuamotu Archipelago. All the Tuamotu atolls belonging to the commune are uninhabited except for Marutea Sud, and are sometimes mistakenly included among the Gambier Islands themselves. The commune population was 1,535 at the 2017 census. Its total land area is 45.97 km2.
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