![[Fiji]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fflagspot.net%2fflags%2f..%2fimages%2ff%2ffj.gif)
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imagebyZoltan Horvath, 2 June 2024
Flag adopted 10th October 1970, coat-of-arms adopted 4th July 1908
See also:
From theFiji Government Official Site:
Fiji's flag flew for the first time on Independence Day, October 10, 1970. It includes the red, white and blue Union Flag of Britain in the top left-hand corner and the shield from the Fiji Coat of Arms on a light blue background in the fly. The design for the national flag was selected as the result of a competition won jointly by Mr. Robi Wilcock and Mrs. Murray MacKenzie.
Dov Gutterman, 25 December 1998
See also:Interview with designer
In the "Fiji Times", 12 October 2008, Sophie Foster pays a tribute to TessaMackenzie, also shown photographed with a table flag. Since the article containswords by Mrs. MacKenzie herself, we have reproduced it below
The year was1970, and across the country there was a frenzied rush. The Queen had allowed the FijiIndependence Order on September 30th, which would come into effect just 10days later. It didn't allow for much time to get ready, but in two aspects atleast Fiji was raring to go. One was the new national anthem. The other wasthe national flag. Just months before, Tessa Mackenzie was one of thethousands who heard about the national competition to find Fiji's new flag.At the time she was a volunteer teacher in Veiuto, taking an art and craftclass with primary school children. The prospect of designing the newnational flag excited her, and she set about finding out more about how suchflags are designed. Little did she know that her idea would result in one ofthe proudest moments of her life, watching her design being lifted to signalthe start of a new nation. As she thought about what to put on the Fijiflag, Mrs Mackenzie says she wanted to keep something of Fiji's history inthe design she submitted.Source:http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=103227
Her starting point was the national coat ofarms, which has two Fijian warriors on either side of a shield.
"Theshield I think was designed around 1906 by Lady Imthurne and she had put inseveral items with the idea that Fiji has a future in the new world. Coconutsdid for a long time drive the economy of Fiji and bananas used to be greateconomic crop and of course sugar cane is still important. There was also thedove of peace, which was on Ratu Cakobau's flag before cession," MrsMackenzie says. Funnily enough, she says that if the coat of arms had been abit fussier as in if it had more intricate designs in it she probably wouldhave chosen something else to use for her national flag submission.
Asfor the inclusion of the Union Jack, Mrs Mackenzie says the decision toinclude it came about because that seemed to be how everyone was feeling atthe time, sentimental about the past, optimistic about the future."This was the mood of the time," she says.
Her choice of colour for thebackground of the flag, she says, was an attempt to show "a pale bluebackground to represent the sea".
Unbeknown to her, at the same time,another man Robi Wilcock was also thinking along the same lines. Infact, he and Mrs Mackenzie submitted exactly the same design to thecompetition. "I knew Robi Wilcock but we worked separately on the flagidea. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that we had submitted the sameidea and that it had been accepted," she says.
In his book, "ThePacific Way: A Memoir", Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, who was chief minister at thetime, explains the decision. "The Fiji national flag had to be designed, andthis was done by competition when two entrants Mrs Murray Mackenzie and MrRobi Wilcock - produced identical designs with the Union flag in the top leftquarter and the shield of Fiji's coat of arms in the fly - all on abackground of Pacific blue," he says.
He says the choice of pale blueset Fiji apart from its neighbours. "At independence a visiting dignitarysaid to me, 'I'm very disappointed to see that you as an Oxford man havechosen Cambridge blue for your flag!' A Cambridge friend of mine is convincedthat I still believe he realised this all the time and never said a word. Butin fact it differentiated us from the dark blue of a number of our Pacificneighbours."
When the Fiji flag was raised for the first time at AlbertPark on October 10, 1970, the ceremony broke somewhat with the norm elsewherearound the world.
"I had seen films of independence ceremonies elsewhere,where the British flag had been lowered at midnight and the new independenceflag raised, both to frenzied cheering. I did not think this appropriate toour relationship with the British Crown. We decided to have a final beatingof retreat before independence, when the Union flag would be lowered with thequiet dignity and respect our long association warranted. It was a movingoccasion," Ratu Mara said.
So it was that after the Union Jack waslowered on October 9, 1970, the way was clear for Mrs Mackenzie's design tobe raised the next day as the symbol of a new nation.
Ratu Mara says:"At Albert Park, our ceremony began with a bare flag-pole, and the peoplewere able to show their unrestrained enthusiasm when the Fiji national flagwas unfurled for the first time, and thousands of schoolchildren excitedlywaved a forest of newly minted Fiji flags". At that exact moment whenthe new flag was raised, Mrs Mackenzie watched with emotion from the rooftopof Government Buildings. "I was standing on the top of the roof becausemy husband Murray was a civil servant at the time. So we were fortunate thatwe had a nice view from there," she says. "I remember that I made a dress ofpale blue for myself and two pale blue shirts for my sons to wear. I hadembroidered my design onto the dress and the shirts, with the Union Jack onone side and the shield from the Coat of Arms on the other. It felt great tojust be there watching history unfold. I think it does make a nice flag."
She is also a major advocate for keeping the flag. "After so manyyears, this flag has become well known worldwide. It's everywhere touristsT-shirts, documents, international papers ... It symbolises Fiji. If wechange it, then we will have lost about 40 years or so of publicity."
In fact, when the National Council for Building a Better Fiji was consideringthe pros and cons of changing the national flag, Mrs Mackenzie told them justthat. "It's our history and you can't ignore it."
Today, though theitems have turned the palest of blues, Mrs Mackenzie still has that FijiIndependence Day dress and shirts that she embroidered for her sons. She saysshe will treasure them always, along with the flag that signalled the startof a new nation.
As far as I can discover, there are no officially recommended or definedshades for the flag of Fiji, and there are quite a variety of alternatives. TheUK Flag Institute recommend Pantone Process Blue,Bartram (2000) (the official British flag book) suggests 549C and theAlbum des Pavillons (2000) (the Frenchnaval flag book) 298C.
Christopher Southworth, 3 March 2005
The protocol manual for the London 2012 Olympics (Flagsand Anthems Manual London 2012) provides recommendations for national flagdesigns. Each NOC was sent an image of the flag, including the PMS shades, fortheir approval by LOCOG. Once this was obtained, LOCOG produced a 60 x 90 cmversion of the flag for further approval. So, while these specs may not be theofficial, government, version of each flag, they are certainly what the NOCbelieved the flag to be. For Fiji: PMS 2915 blue, 281 blue, 032 red, 109 yellow,355 green, 440 green and black. The vertical flag is simply the horizontalversion turned 90 degrees clockwise.
Ian Sumner, 10 October 2012
Other sources for colors:
The Flag Manual - Beijing 2008 gives Pantone colors: PMS 032 (red), PMS 102 (yellow), PMS 2915 (blue), PMS 281 (blue), PMS 355 (green), PMS 440 (brown), and PMS Black.
The Album des Pavillons 2000 [pay00] gives colors in Pantone, and CMYK systems:
Blue: Pantone 286c, CMYK 100-60-0-5
Red: Pantone 186c, CMYK 0-90-80-5
Light blue: Pantone 298c, CMYK 75-0-0-0
The Album des Pavillons 2023 already specifies the colors of the flags in three color systems.
Blue: Pantone 286c, CMYK 100-83-2-0, RGB 0-51-160
Blue: Pantone 298c, CMYK 67-9-1-0, RGB 66-180-230
Red: Pantone 186c, CMYK 14-100-79-4, RGB 200-16-46
Vexilla Mundi gives colors in Pantone system: PMS 298C (light blue), PMS 281C (blue), PMS 186C (red), and PMS White.
Wikipedia states that �as there is no official shade, the blue colour has been variously described as Pantone 2915 C, Pantone 549C and Pantone 298C� (and refers to FOTW-ws), but gives color values as follows:
Cyan: Pantone 2915 C, RGB 98-181-229, Hex: #62b5e5, CMYK 57-21-0-10
White: Pantone White, RGB 255-255-255, Hex: #FFF FFF, CMYK 0-0-0-0
Flag Color Codes gives color values as follows:
Light Blue: Hex: # 69B3E7, RGB 105-179-231, CMYK 58-8-0-0, Pantone 2915, RAL 6027
Dark Blue: Hex: # 012169, RGB 1-33-105, CMYK 100-78-0-57, Pantone 281, RAL 5026
White: Hex. # FFF FFF, RGB 255-255-255, CMYK 0-0-0-0, Pantone N/A, RAL N/A
Red: Hex: # C8102E, RGB 200-16-46, CMYK 0-90-76-0, Pantone 032, RAL 3028
Green: Hex: # 00AD50, RGB 0-173-80, CMYK 81-2-97-0, Pantone N/A, RAL 6024
Yellow: Hex: #FEDD00, RGB 254-221-0, CMYK 2-9-100-0, Pantone N/A, RAL 1026
Zoltan Horvath, 2 June 2024
![[Fiji shield]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fflagspot.net%2fflags%2f..%2fimages%2ff%2ffj)sh.gif)
image byClay Moss, 2 January 2007
Argent, a Cross Gules overall, in the first three sugar canes couped, in the second a coconut palm also couped, in the third a dove volant holding in its beak an olive branch Vert, and in the fourth a bunch of bananas slipped, all proper, on a chief Gules, a Lion passant guardant Or, holding between its forepaws a Cocoa pod proper.
Christopher Southworth, 1 October 2024
Chris wrote,"Fiji got kicked out of the Commonwealth as a result of the coup d'etat in (I think) 1987. Didn't change its flag, which is a defaced pale blue British ensign." Apparently (according toThe Flag Bulletin) a public design competition was held in Fiji in 1990 for a new flag. A committee narrowed down the entries to six designs. But for some reason, the (now) republican government went cold on the idea, and dropped plans to change the flag. The six designs have never been made public. So Fiji retains the pale blue British ensign as its flag, despite it being a republic and, after being kicked out of the Commonwealth, having absolutely no relationship with Britain whatsoever other than historical. This struck me as being quite bizarre — after a coup to make Fiji a republic in 1986, why such timidity in changing the flag?
Brendan Jones, 10 August 1995
Fiji still retains very close economic and political ties with the UK, which may possibly have influenced its decision to retain the old flag. Remember that the British Foreign Office does not recognize Fiji's withdrawal from the Commonwealth and therefore treats Fijian citizens as through they were still in the Commonwealth. The Fijian ambassador is still the High Commissioner, for example, and Fijian students can still apply for Commonwealth scholarships (I know this because I used to help administer one). I think the Foreign Office is basically turning a blind eye to the problem (something they are very good at!) in the hope that it will somehow disappear.
Stuart Notholt, 23 August 1995
Fiji held a competition on independence to design a new flag. The fact that they ended up with one so similar to the colonial ensign suggests a certain lack of imagination either on the part of the competitors or the judges! Anyway, the only main differences made were that the white disk behind the coat of arms was removed and the colour changed to light blue. A dark blue version, which must look virtually the same as the old colonial flag was adopted for use as the state ensign.
Stuart A. Notholt, 9 February 1996
Colours of the botanical specimens on the shield. They are probably emblazoned 'natural', so there's plenty of scope for artistic licence, but suggest that the trunk of the coconut-palm in the second quarter should be brown rather than blue, and that the stem and 'dead flower?' at the ends of the bunch of bananas in the fourth quarter, should also be brown.
David Prothero, 27 May 1998
The new Constitution (1998) altered the official name of the country toRepublic of the Fiji Islands. No reference to any discussion concerning national symbols is apparent from Fijian sources. Probably nobody is aware of the obsoleteness of the Fijian flags.
Jan Zrzavy, 16 September 1998
About five years after the 1987 coup, Fiji decided to return to theCommonwealth, following at least a partial return to democratic rule.Interestingly the committee of Rautu (Chieftains) decided to make a formal apology to the Queen, for dispensing with her services (at leasttemporarily). They presented her with a sharks tooth [whalebone?] as a sign of deep apology.
J.B. Oates, 5 April 1999
Fiji was ultimately re-admitted to the Commonwealth quite recently, I think it was in 1997, but it remains a republic. There has been talk that Fiji will seek to become a monarchy under the House of Windsor again, but as far as I know it has not been acted upon yet.
Roy Stilling, 6 April 1999
In "The Fiji Times", 23 October 2008, Verenaisi Raicola reports a debate onthe Fiji symbols:
"The National Council for Building a Better Fiji iscontemplating changing the country's national anthem and flag. NCBBFmember Desmond Whiteside said there was a proposal to feature the three mainlanguages - English, Indian and Fijian - in the national anthem and a localtheme on the flag, which he says currently reflects more of British rule.Mr Whiteside said there was a lack of initiative during Independence and thatwas why there was no change to the anthem and the flag design. While takingto the streets of Suva to distribute copies of the draft People's Charteryesterday, Mr Whiteside said members of the provincial councils in the NCBBFsupported the move for "Fijian" to be the common name for all. Whileaddressing staff members of Carpenters, Mr Whiteside said the NCBBF had notforced anything on the people.Source:http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=104050
[...]"
Bruce Hill, "Radio Australia" (French edition), 13September 2012, reports that Jone Dakevula, CEO of the "Pacific Dialogue"NGO, raised the issue again during a hearing of the Constitution Commission.
Dakevula proposed the design of a new flag, arguing the the current flagis "nothing but the negative inheritance of the colonial period". In theperspective of the general election scheduled for 2014, eight years after thecoup staged in 2006, Dakevula added: "We need a new flag because we arestarting anew this [the election]. This flag should be more symbolic of thehistory of Fiji and cultural and other features of Fiji that are of meaningto people."
Major-General Sitiveni Rabuka, who staged two coups in 1987,opposed any changes to the flag, arguing that "changing the flag will notchange the fact that we were a colony."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-09-13/calls-for-fiji-flag-change/4260108
The full interviews of Dakevula and Rabuka by Bruce Hill (soundtrack andtranscription) are also available on the website of "Radio Australia", 13September 2012:
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/radio/program/pacific-beat/should-fiji-change-its-flag/1015306
Ivan Sache, 21 September 2012
Reported byRadio Australia:
Fiji to get new flag to 'reinforce a new Fijianidentity', 2 January 2013
Fiji is to get a new flag as part of the makeoverof the country by the military government ahead of next year's election. TheUnion Jack is likely to disappear, with the new flag reinforcing a new Fijianidentity. Fiji's interim prime minister Frank Bainimarama says his country willget a new flag to reinforce a new identity for his country. CommodoreBainimarama announced the change in his annual New Year's address to the nation.However, he made no mention of the Union Jack and whether or not it's likely tobe replaced on the flag.
Jos� Manuel Erbez Rodr�guez, 2 January 2013
Also reported on Fiji Times:http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=221790 , "Flag debate rolls"
Dave Martucci, 6 January 2013
Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, in his new years eve address, announced that Fiji would get a new flag. This would more likely than not mean dropping the Union Flag that is present in the current Fijian flag and adopting a completely new design.
John Moody, 19 January 2014
Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama of Fiji announced today his country will change its flags. His full speech is published athttp://fijisun.com.fj/2015/02/03/pm-officially-announces-fiji-flag-will-be-changed/
"The competition and the formation of the National Panel will commence during this month of February. The competition will be open for two months. And the whole selection process has been designed so that we will be ready to hoist our new flag on the 45th anniversary of our Independence � October the 10th, 2015."
Jos Poels, 3 February 2015
A further statement was released on 28 February, announcing the starting date of 2 March for the competition leading to a new flag for Fiji:http://fijisun.com.fj/2015/02/28/delana-chairs-flag-committee.
Jos Poels, 28 February 2015
Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama's of Fiji announced on 17 August that attempts to change its flags have been terminated. "While I remain convinced personally that we need to replace some of the flag's colonial symbols with a genuinely indigenous expression of our present and our future, it has been apparent to the government since February that the flag should not be changed for the foreseeable future,"
Detailed discussion about the 23 proposals and the termination of the project:Fiji: 23 designs for the new flag
The Fiji Timeswebsitereported that the Great Council of Chiefs is discussing the possibility ofchanging the flag of Fiji, to replace the shield of the coat of arms on theflag's field, with the full coat of arms.
Devereaux Cannon, 1 December 2005
![[Fiji president]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fflagspot.net%2fflags%2f..%2fimages%2ff%2ffj_pres.gif)
imagebyZoltan Horvath, 2 June 2024
based oncar flag photo located byEsteban Rivera, 2 February 2013
Source:http://www.flaginstitute.org/pdfs/Michel%20Lupant.pdf
The car flag of the President of the Republic is a 3:5 dark blue flag with the fullcoat of arms, outlined in golden only, set above a golden 'knot'. Source:Album des Pavillons 2000.Michel Lupant reported about this flag in his lecture at the XIX International Congress of Vexillology 2001 in York, and showed a photo he took from the presidential car in Suva.
Željko Heimer, 1 September 2001
A very interestingcontributionby Michel Lupant published during the XIXth International Congress ofVexilollogy in 2001, shows the flag of the President of Fiji (see picture No. 4,on page 77 of the mentioned document). As Željko Heimer mentioned in hisSeptember 1, 2001 post, the flag reported by Michel Lupant is rather differentfrom all other depictions found online:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Presidential_Standard_of_Fiji.svg. Theflag is blue with the Fijian arms drawn in gold and a carved whale tooth on arope.
Esteban Rivera, 2 February 2013
The presidential flag is dark blue with the arms centred. Based on these pictures, there is not only a car flag, but the flag is also in general use as a Presidential Flag with proportions 1:2:
https://www.gettyimages.ae/photos/fijian-parliament-house
https://ifex.org/pina-challenges-pacific-countries-to-follow-fijis-lead-and-repeal-media-legislation/
https://kemlu.go.id/suva
https://www.instagram.com/fijigovernment/
Zoltan Horvath, 2 June 2024
![[Coat-of-Arms (Fiji)]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fflagspot.net%2fflags%2f..%2fimages%2ff%2ffj).gif)
image from theFiji Government Official Site
Coat-of-arms adopted 4th July 1908
According toSmith 1985, the specimens depicted in the Fijian coat-of-arms are three sugar canes, a coconut palm, a dove with olive branch and a bunch of bananas. The lion in the chief is holding a peeled coconut. The coat-of-arms was granted by Royal Letter Patent on 4th July 1908 and confirmed on 30th September 1970. Other elements which appear in the coat-of-arms when depicted on its own (and also in theColonial Flag) are:
Also according toSmith 1985, the dove with olive branch and the motto were pre-colonial Fijian symbols.
Santiago Dotor, 20 November 1998
From theFiji Government Official Website:
Fiji's flag flew for the first time on Independence Day, October 10, 1970. It includes the red, white and blue Union Flag of Britain in the top left-hand corner and the shield from the Fiji Coat of Arms on a light blue background in the fly. The design for the national flag was selected as the result of a competition won jointly by Mr. Robi Wilcock and Mrs. Murray MacKenzie.Fiji's national Coat of Arms consists of the images of two Fijian warriors on either side of a shield and the mottoRerevaka na Kalou ka Doka na Tui below the shield. These words mean 'Fear God and honour the [King or] Queen'. The shield from the coat of arms has the image of a heraldic lion holding a cocoa pod across the top. Sugarcane, a coconut palm and bunch of bananas are represented in three of the shield's sections. The fourth contains the reproduction of a dove of peace, the main feature, of the Cakobau Government's flag before cession.
Dov Gutterman, 25 December 1998
According toCrampton 1990 p. 38, the motto was adopted by the independentKingdom of Fiji before colonisation by Britain (which was in 1874). (...) This remains the motto of Fiji, despite becoming a republic.
Roy Stilling, 19 January 2000
