Flag of Fiji

What the flag of Fiji looks like

The flag of Fiji is a light blue ensign with a width-to-height ratio of 1:2. The Union Jack fills the canton, the top corner next to the pole. In the fly, the right half of the flag, sits the shield from the national coat of arms.

The shield has a white field divided by a red cross of St George. Across the top is a red band with a yellow lion that holds a cocoa pod in its paws. The four quarters under it show, in turn, sugar cane, a coconut palm, a bunch of bananas and a white dove carrying an olive branch.

Fiji's light blue is unusual among Commonwealth flags, many of which use dark navy blue. The light shade is a deliberate reference to the Pacific Ocean. The colored shield also makes the Fijian flag easier to tell from Tuvalu, which has a similar light blue field with the Union Jack, but with yellow stars instead of a shield.

Fiji flag meaning and symbolism

The light blue background stands for the Pacific Ocean that surrounds the more than 300 islands of Fiji. The Union Jack recalls the country's long link with Britain, and the red cross on the shield comes from the flag of St George.

The shield's symbols come from the economy and values of the islands:

• Lion with a cocoa pod: a link to the British heraldic tradition, with the pod pointing to cocoa farming
• Sugar cane: the sugar industry, historically the biggest export
• Coconut palm: coconut products and the palm-lined coasts
• Bananas: fruit growing
• Dove of peace: the hope for peace in a country of Fijian, Indo-Fijian and other communities

The coat of arms also carries a motto, Rerevaka na Kalou ka Doka na Tui, meaning "Fear God and honor the king". It is not shown on the flag, which has only the shield.

History of the Fiji flag

Fiji became a British colony in 1874, after the chiefs ceded the islands to Queen Victoria. Like other colonies, it flew a blue ensign carrying a local badge in the fly. As independence approached, a new flag was designed that kept the Union Jack but replaced the badge with the shield of the new coat of arms and the dark colonial blue with a lighter sky blue.

The new design was first raised on 10 October 1970, the day Fiji became an independent dominion of the Commonwealth. The flag was kept when Fiji became a republic after the military coups of 1987, even though the head of state was no longer the British monarch. The country remained outside the Commonwealth for several years afterwards.

In 2013, the government of Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama announced plans to drop the Union Jack, calling it a colonial relic. A public competition for new designs followed, but in 2016 the government decided to keep the existing flag.

Flags that look like the Fiji flag

Several Pacific nations have flags built on the Union Jack, such as Australia and New Zealand. Both use dark blue, though. Tuvalu comes closest, with a light blue field and a Union Jack in the canton. Fiji is the only one of them to show a coat-of-arms shield.