Flag of Nauru

What the flag of Nauru looks like

The flag of Nauru has a dark blue background and a thin horizontal yellow-gold stripe running across the middle from one side to the other. In the lower half, on the side nearest the pole, sits a white star with twelve points. The star is placed directly below the stripe, in line with the hoist end, rather than in the middle. The proportions are 1:2.

The design is simple, and the flag looks like a map of the island: the stripe is the equator and the star is Nauru itself. The white star is the only element in the lower half of the flag.

Nauru flag meaning and symbolism

Every element of the flag has a geographic or cultural meaning:

• The gold stripe represents the equator. Nauru lies about 42 kilometers (26 miles) south of it.
• The blue field stands for the Pacific Ocean that surrounds the island.
• The white star marks the position of the island south of the equator. Its twelve points are said to stand for the twelve original tribes of the Nauruan people.

The white of the star is also sometimes linked to phosphate, the mineral that shaped the island's economy and history, though this is a secondary reading. The twelve tribes are also commemorated in Nauruan traditions.

History of the Nauru flag

Nauru was a German colony from 1888 and was placed under a joint mandate of Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom after the First World War. It was occupied by Japan during the Second World War and then became a United Nations trust territory under Australian administration. As a colony and trust territory, it did not have a flag of its own.

Nauru became independent on 31 January 1968, becoming the world's smallest republic, and the national flag was first raised on that day. It has stayed unchanged since. Nauru is an island of only 21 square kilometers, with a population of about 13,000, and it is sometimes confused with other Pacific island nations. Independence day is celebrated each year on 31 January.

Flags that look like the Nauru flag

The flag of Curaçao is blue with a yellow horizontal stripe in the lower part and two white stars, so it is sometimes mistaken for the Nauru flag. In Curaçao's flag the stripe is below the middle and there are two five-pointed stars at the top left. The flag of Tuvalu is a light blue field with a Union Jack and nine yellow stars, and it is also from the Pacific, but it looks quite different. For more flags from this region see flags of Oceania, or download the file from the Nauru flag download page.