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Stretching over 4000 kilometres along the equator and consisting of 33 islands and atolls in the west-central Pacific Ocean, Kiribati (pronounced
kiri-bahs) adopted a new name and national flag upon independence from Great Britain on the 12th of July 1979.
Formerly known as the Gilbert Islands, Kiribati was part of the British governed colony of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands from 1916 until 1975,
when a referendum held on the Ellice Islands, now Tuvalu, resulted in
the dissolution of the union.
The name Kiribati (kiri-bahs) originated from the local populations pronunciation
of the chain of islands former name Gilberts.
The Kiribati flag is technically called an heraldic banner, because it is derived from the shield of the national coat of arms.
The coat of arms originally formed the badge of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands and when placed in the fly of a defaced British Blue Ensign constituted the flag of the former colony.
The British Blue Ensign is a navy blue flag with the Union Jack in the upper hoist (upper left corner). |
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The bird is a golden frigate, representing authority, freedom and command of the sea.
The yellow sun rising over a red horizon represents the equator and the blue and white wavy
lines symbolise the Pacific Ocean.
The image symbolises Kiribati’s geographical location, straddling the equator for over 4000 kilometres and covering over 2 million square kilometres of the Pacific Ocean. |
