Flag of the Solomon Islands

What the flag of the Solomon Islands looks like

The flag has a 1:2 ratio and is cut by a narrow yellow stripe that runs from the lower hoist corner (next to the pole) up to the upper fly corner. The blue triangle lies above the stripe, along the hoist and top edge. The green triangle lies below, toward the fly.

The five white five-pointed stars are arranged in the blue triangle, with four in a square pattern and one at the center. The simple geometry makes the flag easy to tell from other diagonal designs.

Solomon Islands flag meaning and symbolism

The commonly given meanings are:

• Blue for the surrounding ocean and the waters of the Pacific.
• Green for the land and its forests and vegetation.
• Yellow for the sunshine.
• The five stars for the five groups into which the islands were originally divided: Eastern, Western, Central, Malaita and Guadalcanal (with Honiara).

The country now has nine provinces, plus the capital territory of Honiara, but the stars were not changed, so they keep their original meaning.

History of the Solomon Islands flag

The British declared a protectorate over the southern Solomon Islands in 1893, and the islands later became the British Solomon Islands Protectorate. Under British rule, the flag was a Blue Ensign (a blue flag with the Union Jack in the corner) carrying the protectorate's badge in the fly.

As the protectorate moved toward self-government in the 1970s, a new flag was chosen. The current design was adopted on 18 November 1977, and the islands became independent on 7 July 1978. The flag has not changed since. The Solomon Islands remain in the Commonwealth, and the British monarch is head of state.

The flag appears on the flag emoji and at national events, and it can be compared with the other Pacific flags on the Oceania page.