![[Flag of France]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fflagspot.net%2fflags%2f..%2fimages%2ff%2ffr.gif) | ![[Flag of TAAF]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fflagspot.net%2fflags%2f..%2fimages%2ft%2ftf.gif) |
| Flag of France - Image byŽeljko Heimer, 22 September 2001 | Flag of TAAF - Image byZoltan Horváth, 3 June 2024 |
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Terres australes et antarctiques françaises (TAAF) are a French oversea territory with administrative and financial autonomy, as prescribed by the Law of 6 August 1955.
The territory is composed of five districts:
-Kerguelen Islands (7,215 sq. km), with a permanent base (Port-aux-Français, 68 inhabitants)
-Crozet Archipelago (115 sq. km), with a permanent base (Alfred Faure on Ile de la Possession, 29 inhabitants)
-Amsterdam Island (or New Amsterdam, 54 sq. km), with a permanent base (Martin-de-Viviès, 29 inhabitants) andSaint-Paul Island (uninhabited, 7 sq. km)
-Adelie Land (Terre Adélie, 432,000 sq. km) inAntarctica, which is supposed to have 32 inhabitants in 1994 (most probably to maintain claims on Antarctica despite the Treaty on Antarctica, signed by France, which does not recognize any territorial claim beneath the Southern Polar Circle.)
-Outlying Islands of the Indian Ocean (Îles Éparses de l'océan Indien.
The first four districts (Kerguelen, Crozet, Amsterdam and Adelie) were prescribed by the Territorial Decree of 20 October 1956.
The fifth district (&Icir;les Éparses de l'océan Indien) was prescribed by Decree 2007-18 bis of 23 February 2007, published in theTAAF official gazette #33 on 15 March 2007, "creating the district of Outlying Islands of the Indian Ocean. Beforehand, these islands have been placed under the direct authority of the Ministery of the Overseas (Ministère de l'Outremer) since 1 April 1960. Since the Decree of 19 September1960, the Outlying Islands were administrated by the Prefet ofReunion.A Decree signed on 3 January 2005 transferred the administration ofthe Outlying Islands to the Prefet,Senior Administrator of TAAF.
The Outlying Islands are made of four islands located in theMozambique Channel (Bassas da India, Europa, Juan de Nova, Glorieuses), andTromelin, isolated in the north of Reunion.
Bassas da India is an emerging, circular madreporic atoll, with an arealower than 1 sq. km. At high tide, Bassas de India is nearly completelysubmerged.
Europa is the biggest of the Outlying Islands (30 sq. km). From 1905 to1910, two families from Reunion settled there and attempte to growsisal and collect turtle shells. However, agriculture proved to beimpossible on the island because of the huge number of rodents. Ameteorological station was set up on Europa in 1949.
OnJuan de Nova (5 sq. km), guano is harvested there since the XIXthcentury. The guano workers maintain a meteorological station.
Glorieuses Archipelago (7 sq. km) is made of Grande Glorieuse andIle du Lys, as well as of the islets of Roches Vertes and Ile auxCrabes. A coconut plantation was grown on Grande Glorieuse from1912 to 1958. A meteorological station was set up on Grande Glorieusein 1960; the aims of the station are the prediction of cyclones hittingthe north ofMadagascar and theComoros and assistance to maritime and aerial navigation.
Tromelin (1 sq. km) is completely isolated and scoured by the tradewinds; landing is extremely difficult and agriculture is impossiblebecause of the wind and the lack of water. A meteorological station wasset up on Tromelin in 1954 upon request of theWorld MeteorologicalOrganization; most cyclones threatening Madagascar, Reunion andMauritius scour Tromelin.
The Outlying Islands are nature reserves and their access is strictlyrestricted. Since 1973, detachments from the French Armed Forces in the SouthZone of Indian Ocean are stationed on Grande Glorieuse, Juan de Novaand Europa. All the islands but Bassas da India are inhabited bymeteorologists, a gendarme (except Tromelin) and scientists doingshort-time missions.
Tromelin was recently claimed by Mauritius. Following the Convention onMaritime Rights adopted in 1982, with effect in 1994, the MauritianParliament recently extended Mauritius' territorial waters to 350nautic miles, encompassingDiego Garcia (Britain), Coetivy(Seychelles), Saya Malha (Maldives) and Tromelin (France). In late February 2005, Brigitte Girardin, the French Minister of Overseas, "visited"Tromelin, Europa and Juan de Nova; her visit was of course morepolitical than touristic. Madagascar and the Comoros also claim theOutlying Islands of the Mozambique Channel.
Ivan Sache, 2 May 2008
The flag of TAAF was officially adopted on 23 February 2007 by Decree 2007-18, published in theTAAF official gazette #33 on 15 March 2007, "relative to the officialization ofthe emblem of TAAF".
Art. 1er :
Les Terres australes et antarctiques françaises se dotent d'un emblème dont la description figure ci-après
Art. 2. :
En forme de pavillon de navire, cet emblème est "d'azur aux quatre lettres T, A, A, F, entremêlées, accompagnées en pointe de cinq étoiles, le tout d'argent, et au franc-canton en pal azur argent gueules".[...]
The flag (without any prescribed proportions, therefore, by default 2:3) is bluewith the interlaced letters "T", "A", "A" and "F" and five stars under, allwhite, and the national flag in canton.
The original text is quite odd, saying "emblem" and neither "flag" or"ensign", while TAAF has already an emblem, thecoat of arms.The use of "emblem" might be linked to the wording of the FrenchConstitution, saying about the flag, "the national emblem", that is theonly official emblem of the French Republic.
The description of the flag is also odd: "the emblem has the shape of aship ensign" is meaningless. Why don't say "the emblem is a flag / an ensign"?. The heraldical terms "azure" and "argent" are used instead of "blue" and "white", respectively; the canton is wronglydescribed asau franc-canton en pal azur argent gueules, while it should beau franc-canton tiercé en pal d'azur, d'argent et de gueules.
Decree No. 2008-919, 11 September 2008, specifying how the statutes ofthe TAAF should be enforced, published in the French official gazetteNo. 0214 on 13 September 2008, says:
Title VI. Diverse and final provisions
Article 33.
The territory can have a distinctive emblem, beside the emblem of theRepublic. This emblem shall be prescribed by a Decree of the Ministerin charge of the Overseas, after recommendation of the AdvisoryCouncil.
According to the status, the Ministry of the Overseas shouldofficially approve the flag already adopted in 2007, unless it isdecided, as a retroactive measure, that the Prefet who signed theDecree had a delegation from the Minister.
The flag is used in front of the office of thePréfet, administrateur supérieur des Terres Australes et Antarctiques Françaises inSaint-Pierre (Reunion). The flag can also be used in the districts of the TAAF if the "inhabitants" wish to display it and ifweather permits it. There are no rules of use of the flag, so that everybody can use it. For instance, theflag with three stars was displayed during theTelross expedition at the end of 2006.
Pascal Vagnat &Ivan Sache, 12 February 2009
It seems logical that the fivestars on the new flag should stand for the five districts of the TAAF.
Željko Heimer, 27 November 2007
Photographs of the flag in use:photo (2021),photo (2021),photo (2023),photo (2023).
About the colors:
Zoltan Horváth, 3 June 2024
![[Flag of the Senior Administrator]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fflagspot.net%2fflags%2f..%2fimages%2ft%2ftf_sadm.gif)
Flag of the Senior Administrator of TAAF - Image byOlivier Touzeau, 27 November 2007
Until recently, the only flag specific to the territory is the flag of the Senior Administrator, which seems to have been used for a couple of years as the flag of TAAF. The flag of teh Senior Administrator was never officialized.
Shortly after he took office, the first Senior Administrator, MrRichert, who was Administrator of Overseas France, and bore threestars on his uniform, like aVice-Admiral), adopted a personal flag.It was similar to the flags used by the formerColonial Governors and HighCommissioners of Overseas Territories, that is, a blue flag with aTricolour flag in canton. The white letters "T", "A", "A", "F", arranged inthe shape of an anchor, surmounting three whitestars, are placed in lower fly. This flag was retained by the Senior Administrators who succeeded Richert.
The flag can be partially seen in a photo shown byParis-Match (# 787, 9 May 1964), taken during the visit of Mr Louis Jacquinot to theKerguelen Islands. It was hoisted on any building or vessel when theSenior Administrator was on board. The flag used in the TAAFheadquarters is 70 x 84 cm, the emblem is 22 cm inheight, and the width of the "T" is 18 cm. The Secretary General,assistant to the Senior Administrator, does not has any specialemblem.
Mario Fabretto, 25 September 1998
This pPhoto of the flag in use:photo (2008) shows the the flag of the Senior Administrator of TAAF and unofficial flag of TAAF before 2007, with only three stars. I has no white fimbriation on the French canton, which is half the height of the flag, the emblem is centered horizontally in the fly, and the blue of the field is lighter than the blue of the French Canton.The photo was taken in december 2008 in the Crozet islands
Olivier Touzeau, 4 June 2024
![[Coat of arms]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fflagspot.net%2fflags%2f..%2fimages%2ft%2ftf).gif)
Coat of arms of TAAF - Image byEugene Ipavec, 25 November 2007
The arms of TAAF are:
Écartelé, au premier d'azur au chou de Kerguelen d'argent; au deuxième d'or à la langouste de sable posée en pal; au troisième d'or à la tête et au col de manchot royal de sable; au quatrième d'azur à l'iceberg d'argent.
Pascal Vagnat, 17 December 2006
[translation:] Quarterly, first Azure with a Kerguelen cabbage Argent; second Or with a lobster Sable in pale; third Or with the head and neck of a king penguin Sable; fourth Azure with an iceberg Argent.
Chris Southworth, 30 September 2024
According to a letter dated 28 October 1981 from Miss Suzanne Gauthierto Lucien Philippe, published in Flagmaster[flm] #38 (November 1982), the arms of TAAF were created by Miss Gauthier, who registered the original drawing with SPADEM (Société pour la propriété artistique des dessins et modèles) on 4 September 1958.
In the letter Miss Gauthier wrote that Mr Richert had asked for a draft of the arms of TAFF, setting out the elements which ought to be included, particularly the three white stars that appear on his personal flag.
Mario Fabretto, 25 September 1998
According to Roman Klimeš[klm87], the shield is quarteredazure and or.The four quarters of the coat of arms stand for the four "historical" districts of TAAF:
- a Kerguelen cabbage argent, representing Kerguelen. The Kerguelencabbage (Pringlea antiscorbutica) is endemic to these islands, that is it does not grow in the wild anywhere else in the world;
- a lobster sable, representing New Amsterdam and St. Paul;
- the head and neck of a royal penguin sable and argent crowned or, representing Crozet Island;
- an iceberg argent, representing Adelie Land.
The coronet above the shield is inscribed with the name of theterritory sable, bears three stars or and two anchors argent.
The shield is supported by twi sea elephants argent.
The coat of arms is shown on TAAF postage stamps; there is no writing in the 1959-63 and1970 versions, but writing is present on the 1992 and later versions.
Ivan Sache, 1 May 2001
![[Fishery police pennant]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fflagspot.net%2fflags%2f..%2fimages%2ft%2ftf%7efish.gif)
Pennant of the Fishery Police in TAAF - Image byŽeljko Heimer, 18 December 2003
Fishery is one of the most strategical resources of TAAF.The Patagonian Toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides, in French,légine), highly estimated and overpriced in the USA as Chilean Sea Bass, and mostly inJapan asmero, is found mostly in the TAAF waters. The fish is submitted tointense poaching, which endangers the species.
The vessels of the TAAF fishery police are stationed in theKerguelen islands.
According toAlbum des Pavillons[pay00], the pennant of the fishery police in TAAF is quartered blue-yellow, following the model of theInternational Fisheries Inspection Pennant, in apparent proportion 7:6, with the white letters TAAF in upper host.
Ivan Sache &Željko Heimer, 18 December 2003
The registration of ships in the Kerguelen Islands allows the shipowner to employ some foreign workers. It was created to fight againstthe so-calledflags of conveniencewhich escape the sea labour rules.
There is no other flag for ships registered in the KerguelenIslands but the French tricolour flag.
Pascal Vagnat,Željko Heimer &Armand duPayrat, 22 January 2003
