Flags of New Caledonia

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New Caledonia
Flag of New Caledonia.svg
Both flags used by New Caledonia
Tricolore
Flag of France.svg
National flag, always used
Proportion2:3
Adopted15 February 1794
DesignA vertical tricolour of blue, white, and red.
Kanak Flag
Pro-Independence Flag of New Caledonia.svg
FLNKS flag, often used
Proportion1:2
Adopted13 July 2010 [1]
DesignA horizontal tricolour of blue, red, and green charged with a yellow disc outlined in black and defaced with a black flèche faîtière.

Two flags are in use in New Caledonia, an overseas territory of France. Up to 2010, the only flag used to represent New Caledonia was the flag of France, a tricolour featuring three vertical bands coloured blue (hoist side), white, and red known to English speakers as the French Tricolour or simply the Tricolour. However, in July 2010, the Congress of New Caledonia voted in favour of a wish to fly the Kanak flag of the independence movement FLNKS alongside the French Tricolour. The wish, legally non-binding, proved controversial. [1] [2] A majority of New Caledonian communes, but not all, now fly both flags, the rest flying only the French Tricolour. [3]

Contents

Overview

Tricolour and Kanak flag side by side on the same flagpole, Noumea, March 2011. Two official flags of New Caledonia on same flagpole.png
Tricolour and Kanak flag side by side on the same flagpole, Nouméa, March 2011.

In 2008, the government of New Caledonia debated the introduction of an official regional flag and anthem, as required by the Accord de Nouméa. A flag in fairly widespread unofficial use was the flag of the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS), a political party favoring independence for New Caledonia, thus a highly controversial emblem, and the French Tricolour would remain the only flag used for the next two years.

In July 2010, the Congress of New Caledonia voted in favour of a non legally binding wish (vœux) to fly the FLNKS flag alongside the French Tricolour in the territory. [2] [1] On 17 July 2010, French Prime Minister François Fillon took part in a ceremony in Nouméa where the FLNKS flag was hoisted alongside the French Tricolour. [4] [5] The coexistence with the pro independentist flag proved controversial, with the New Caledonian deputy to the National Assembly Gaël Yanno calling it "akin to raising the Palestinian flag over the Knesset". In the capital city Nouméa, the first raising of the FLNKS flag on the town hall happened without any ceremony, as the mayor refused to participate. The New Caledonian delegation to the Olympic Games used the combined flags for the first time in 2011. [6] According to Philippe Gomès, then President of the Government of New Caledonia, "this flag was imposed on us. Is it representative of all communities? No, it's the flag of the Kanak, the flag of independence. Is it the choice of all? No, it's the choice of a lone man who chose to play along with the independence movement". [7] Thus, the debate on finding a permanent official regional flag continued [8] as the adoption of the Kanak flag proved controversial. [4] Some New Caledonians argued for a completely new flag for New Caledonia, which would incorporate designs from both the French Tricolour and the Kanak flags. [4] Such new flag would aim to promote a "common destiny" for ethnic Kanaks and ethnic French residents in New Caledonia. [4]

FLNKS political flag

The FLNKS flag, first adopted by the party in 1980, is composed of three horizontal stripes of blue (Pantone 286c), red (Pantone 032c) and green [9] (Pantone 347c) charged with a yellow (Pantone 102c) disc of a diameter two-thirds the height of the flag centered at a position of one-third the width of the flag, measured from the hoist side. The disc is defaced with a vertical symbol in black and sometimes outlined in black. When used as the Flag of New Caledonia, the Société Française de Vexillologie (SFV) has objected to the bordering of the disc with black as erroneous, citing Wikipedia as the source of the error. [10] The SFV cites the publication by the French Navy's Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service, Album des pavillons nationaux et des marques distinctives, as authoritative in establishing that the golden disc is not outlined by a black border. [11] [nb 1] Both bordered and unbordered variants are displayed locally [14] and even appear on social media accounts of the FLNKS. [15] It has the same color pattern as the Flag of Azerbaijan.

The blue symbolizes both the sky and more importantly the ocean surrounding New Caledonia. The red symbolizes the blood shed by the Kanaks in their struggle for independence, socialism, and unity. The green symbolizes the land itself and by extension the ancestors buried within it. The yellow disc is a representation of the sun and the symbol upon it consists of a flèche faitière , a kind of arrow that adorns the roofs of Kanak houses thrust through tutut shells. [16]

The solution of the two flags is on the other hand denounced by the historical loyalist leader Jacques Lafleur (for whom “New Caledonia has a flag, that of the French Republic”) as well as the president of the government Philippe Gomès and his party Calédonie ensemble who would prefer a local flag inspired by the South African example.

Finally, on 13 July 2010, the Congress of New Caledonia adopted the wish “that the flag, the description of which is appended, and the national flag be flown together in New Caledonia. However, this wish has no binding legal force and each local authority is left free to apply it or not.

The municipality of La Foa has also refused to hoist the FLNKS flag, and before it, that of Bourail. But FLNKS militants ended up imposing it, during an unofficial ceremony where the mayor of the commune, Brigitte El Arbi, was not present. [17]

On 17 July 2010, Prime Minister François Fillon, on an official trip to the archipelago, hoisted the Kanak flag and the French flag together for the first time on the headquarters of the High Commission of the Republic in the presence of local authorities. [18]

Provincial flags

New Caledonia is divided into three provinces, each with its own flag.

Other flags

Notes

  1. ↑ The SHOM's Album specifies the proportions as 2:3 [12] but locally produced variants can have proportions of 1:2. [13]

See also

Related Research Articles

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New Caledonia is a sui generis collectivity of overseas France in the southwest Pacific Ocean, south of Vanuatu, about 1,210 km (750 mi) east of Australia, and 17,000 km (11,000 mi) from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Chesterfield Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of Pines, and a few remote islets. The Chesterfield Islands are in the Coral Sea. French people, especially locals, call Grande Terre le Caillou, a nickname also used more generally for the entire New Caledonia. Pro-independence Kanak parties use the name (la) Kanaky to refer to New Caledonia, a term coined in the 1980s from the ethnic name of the indigenous Melanesian Kanak people who make up 41% of New Caledonia's population. New Caledonia is one of the European Union's Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs), but it is not part of the European Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nouméa</span> Place of New Caledonia, France

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The Nouméa Accord of 1998 is a promise by the French Republic to grant increased political power to New Caledonia and its indigenous population, the Kanaks, over a twenty-year transition period. It was signed 5 May 1998 by Lionel Jospin, and approved in a referendum in New Caledonia on 8 November, with 72% voting in favour. Under the accord, three more referendum votes, on whether to remain a special collectivity of France or become an independent state, have been held. One was held in 2018, and the second was held in 2020. In both votes a majority chose to remain French. The Nouméa Accord permitted a final referendum to be held, voted for by the Congress of New Caledonia. It was held December 2021 and widely rejected independence amid boycott by the independence movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congress of New Caledonia</span> Unicameral legislature of New Caledonia

The Congress of New Caledonia, a "territorial congress", is the legislature of New Caledonia. The congress is headquartered at 1 Boulevard Vauban in downtown Noumea. Local media in New Caledonia refer to the congress as "boulevard Vauban" when referencing it.

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The National Union for Independence is a militant socialist pro-independence alliance of political parties in New Caledonia. It is a component of the Kanak Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS) along with the Caledonian Union.

The Matignon Agreements were agreements signed in the Hôtel Matignon by Jean-Marie Tjibaou and Jacques Lafleur on 26 June 1988 between loyalists who wanted to keep New Caledonia as a part of the French Republic, and separatists, who did not. The agreements were arranged under the aegis of the Government of France as a result of discussions and compromises arranged by Christian Blanc, the negotiator for Michel Rocard's government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flèche faîtière</span> Carved rooftop structure on Kanak houses in New Caledonia

A flèche faîtière is a carved rooftop spear, spire or finial that adorns Kanak houses, particularly the Great Houses of the Kanak Chiefs, in New Caledonia. The ceremonial carving is the home of ancestral spirits and is characterized by three major components. The ancestor is symbolized by a flat, crowned face in the centre of the spear. The ancestor's voice is symbolized by a long, rounded pole that is run through by conch shells. The symbolic connection of the clan, through the chief, is a base, which is planted into the case's central pole. Sharply pointed wood pieces fan out from either end of the central area, symbolically preventing bad spirits from being able to reach the ancestor. It evokes, beyond a particular ancestor, the community of ancestors. The flèche faîtière was depicted on a 2007 New Caledonian stamp.

Numèè, or Kwényi (Kwenyii), is a New Caledonian language, the one spoken at the southern tip of the island, as well as on the Isle of Pines offshore. Despite its name, it is probably not the language that gave its name to the capital of New Caledonia, Nouméa; that seems to have been its close relative Ndrumbea, which used to be spoken there.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kanak people</span> Indigenous people of New Caledonia

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 New Caledonian independence referendum</span>

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Sonia Backès is a French politician in New Caledonia. She is the current leader of the Caledonian Republicans party and the President of the Provincial Assembly of South Province since 17 May 2019.

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Caroline Machoro-Reignier is a Kanak politician in New Caledonia. A member of the pro-independence Caledonian Union, she led the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front alliance in the Congress of New Caledonia from 2011 to 2014. In 1988, she was one of the signatories of the Matignon Agreements between New Caledonian loyalists and separatists.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Nouvelle-Calédonie: Voeu sur le drapeau Kanaky de 2010". axl.cefan.ulaval.ca.
  2. 1 2 Voeux n° 1 du treize juillet 2010
  3. ↑ "Roch Wamytan: "descendre le drapeau kanak est un geste ignoble, il ne faut plus parler de destin commun!"". Nouvelle-Calédonie la 1ère.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Malkin, Bonnie (20 July 2010). "New Caledonia adopts second flag in compromise over French rule". The Daily Telegraph . London. Retrieved 28 July 2010.
  5. ↑ "FLNKS flag" (in French). 17 July 2010. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  6. ↑ Biseau, Grégoire. "A Nouméa, Sarkozy et la question du double drapeau". Libération.
  7. ↑ Pignot, Marion (5 June 2012). "Législatives: quand le communautarisme fait gagner des voix en Nouvelle-Calédonie". Slate.
  8. ↑ "La Nouvelle-Calédonie se cherche toujours un drapeau". La Croix. France. 4 December 2012.
  9. ↑ Flag of New Caledonia on Country Flags.
  10. ↑ Société Française de Vexillologie (SFV). "Drapeau de la Nouvelle-Calédonie - 24.05.24". Société Française de Vexillologie (SFV). Société Française de Vexillologie (SFV). Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  11. ↑ Société Française de Vexillologie (SFV). "Drapeau de la Nouvelle-Calédonie - 24.05.24". Société Française de Vexillologie (SFV). Société Française de Vexillologie (SFV). Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  12. ↑ Service hydrographique et océanographique de la Marine (2016). Album des pavillons : pavillons et marques distinctives des États et des principales organisations internationales. Paris: Service hydrographique et océanographique de la Marine. p. 112. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  13. ↑ Dornoy-Vurobaravu, Myriam (1994). Objectifs Et Interprétations de la Politique Frana̧ise Dans Le Pacifique Sud. Institute of Pacific Studies and USP Complex, Vanuatu. p. 36. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  14. ↑ "Google lens search". Google Images. Google. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  15. ↑ FLNKS-Officiel. "FLNKS-Officiel". Facebook. Meta, Inc. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  16. ↑ "Front de Libération National Kanak Socialist (Political party, New Caledonia)". 27 April 2014. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
  17. ↑ B, Hubert (9 August 2015). "Coup de force ou démocratie ?". Calédosphère (in French). Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  18. ↑ "Fillon hisse les drapeaux français et kanak à Nouméa". Le Figaro (in French). 17 July 2010. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  19. ↑ "@New Caledonia (France): Territorial Olympic and Sports Committee".
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