Flag of American Samoa

What the flag of American Samoa looks like

The flag has a width-to-height ratio of 2:1, so it is noticeably long and narrow. The field is dark blue. A large white triangle with a red border points toward the hoist.

In the center of the triangle is a bald eagle, the U.S. national bird. Its claws hold two objects: a uatogi, a traditional Samoan war club, and a fue, a fly-whisk. The club and whisk add a small fourth color, a brown tone, you can see in the swatches above.

The same design appears in the American Samoa flag emoji.

American Samoa flag meaning and symbolism

The colors are red, white and blue, which are shared by the flag of the United States and by the flag of independent Samoa. They are read as the traditional colors of both countries, a link to the US, which administers the territory, and to Samoan identity.

The eagle stands for the United States and for its guardianship over the islands; it does not actually live in American Samoa. The two objects in its claws come from fa'a Samoa, the Samoan way of life. In Samoan custom, the fly-whisk and the war club are traditional symbols of chiefs. The fly-whisk represents the wisdom of traditional Samoan leaders and the war club the power of government, so together they show that the islands keep their own chiefly tradition under the eagle.

According to the flag's designer, Uinifareti Rapi (Fareti) Sotoa, the white triangle stands for the Manu'a District, the two blue parts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Tutuila Island, and the red between them for the ocean separating Tutuila from Manu'a.

History of the American Samoa flag

The Samoan islands were divided among Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States by the Tripartite Convention of 1899, and the United States took control of the easternmost islands on 17 April 1900. The eastern islands, including Tutuila and its harbor at Pago Pago, came under US control and became American Samoa, while the western islands went to Germany. The western part later gained independence in 1962 as Samoa, which is why there are two Samoan flags. Today the two are not the same country: American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the United States, and Samoa is a sovereign nation.

For decades the US flag was the only official flag of American Samoa. As Samoans took a larger role in local government, residents were invited to propose designs for a territorial flag. A design by high school student Fareti Sotoa won a competition at Samoana High School in 1959, and local government leaders and the U.S. Army Institute of Heraldry then finalized it. The flag was adopted and first raised on 17 April 1960, sixty years to the day after the US flag was first raised over the islands, replacing the Stars and Stripes. American Samoa holds a Flag Day celebration on 17 April each year.