Last modified: 1997-10-23 by rob raeside
Keywords: tuvalu | oceania | star | union jack | ellice islands | gilbert islands |
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The 1995+ flag
Tuvalu (independent 1979, formerly the Ellice Islands colony) changed its flag on 1 Oct 1995. The number of five pointed stars were reduced from nine to eight. The name of the country "Tuvalu" means "8 standing together" originally because only eight of the nine islands were populated. Recently, the ninth has become inhabited due to population pressures, but instead of changing the name of the country it has been decided to make the number of stars on the flag consistent with the name of the country.
Brendan Jones and William Crampton
Light blue with nine yellow stars in the fly and the Union Jack in the canton. Adopted on the day of independence 1 October 1978. Notice that the stars point in various directions.
William Crampton
Tuvalu and Kiribati were a single colony, the Gilbert and Ellice Islands. The flag badge for this colony was the shield of the colony's arms in a white disc. These arms were passed to Kiribati (Gilberts) on independence, and their national flag is a banner of them. The arms of Tuvalu (Ellice Is) were granted to
them on separation from the Gilberts.
Roy Stilling, 1996-FEB-10