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Kiribati

by zeljko heimer, 1996-FEB-29
Flag adopted 1979-JUL-12, coat of arms adopted 1937-MAY-01

Description and history of the flag

DK Pocket Book gives additional information about the adoption of the flag:

"Shortly before independence was granted in 1979, a local competition was held to choose a new national flag and a design based on the colonial coat of arms, was submitted. The College of Arms decided to modify the design. Both the golden frigate bird and the sun were enlarged to occupy more of the top of the flag and the width of the blue and white wavy bands was reduced. However, the local people insisted on the original design, in which the top and bottom halves of the flag were equal, the sun and local frigate birds small, and the various design elements oultined in black. The new flag was hoisted during the independence day celebrations in the capital, Tarawa, on 12 July 1979."

And if you check Smith, the flag represented is the rejected design, the flag represented above is also the rejected design!
Ivan Sache, 31 December 1999

The flag is the banner of the arms that was given to Gilbert and Ellice Islands in 1937. The Ellice Islands became what we know as Tuvalu today, and the Gilbert Islands changed their name to Kiribati, but the shield remained the same. It is red with white-blue wavy lines in bottom representing the ocean, golden sun rising from it, and above it a bird flying. This flag came in use in 1979.

Until then Gilbert and Ellice used blue duster with the same shield, and a motto 'Fear the God, respect the king'. This was official since 1969. What is actually written there is: 'Maaka te atua, karinea te uea; mataku i te atua, fakamamalu ki te tupu'.
Zeljko Heimer 29 February 1996

"Kiribati" is pronounced Kirribarce (accent on the first syllable), and is a rendering into an Oceanic language form of the English name Gilberts (the shorthand form of the Gilbert Islands' name). So in one sense it didn't really change its name, just the spelling.
Stuart Park 29 February 1996

Banabe

Two designs have been reported for Ocean Island or Banabe flags. One comes from Volume 1 Number 3 of the Bulletin of the Hungarian Vexillological Association "Flagworld" page 32 by Mr Laszlo Balogh. He describes a flag thus. Draw a rectangle, put throughout a white saltire. The top and bottom triangles are blue and the left and right triangles are red. [Editor's note: this is the 1976 flag of Seychelles.]

The second flag for Ocean Island I know of is a field of medium blue, with a white central disc. Inside the white disc is a central emblem coloured gold, of a stylized silhouette map of Ocean Island itself. Laid over this and extending over the circle is a black frigate bird in flight.
Paul Lindsay, 21 September 1996

I received information about Banaban flags from Stacey M. King (I posted him my images of two Banaban flags):

"We are not aware where you got such information but Rabi Holdings Company has been out of business for many years and the logo seen on kir_ban2.gif has been adapted today as an official logo with more drawings and a motto added. It is a LOGO ONLY and in no way is used as a flag. The Banabans on Rabi island fly the Fiji flag and in Banaba fly the Kiribati flag for all official occassions.

The Banabans do not have independence as this was denied to them in 1980 when Kiribati became a Republic. I am a Banaban who is recognised as an official historian for my people. I have never seen either of these two flags and they are not recognised in anyway by our people."

When I posted information (from Flag Bulletin) he replied:

"The information you have seen would be all dating back to late 1970's and 1980 when we sued the UK Government in the longest Civil Court Case in history. We also went to Court over the fight for Independence and to the UN. All this was to no avail as UK Government left the final decision regarding our independance to the Republic of Kiribati, or the Gilbert Island Group as it was then known.

So this would be where you have probably found information on proposed flags etc. The problem is - that the issue of our relationship with the Kiribati Government is very sensitive and it is only over the past year or two that we are now trying to work together for the betterment of our people. The Banabans, including myself see the role of the Kiribati Government and the issue of Independance for our homeland of Banaba in the Central Pacific as still a HOT issue.

Even with these feelings buried deep in our hearts we do not recognise having our own flag due to the fact we only hold community status and the fact our communities on Rabi and Banaba are split under 2 nations. This is why the publishing of the 2 flags you have would be misrepresenting the status of people. Before Kiribati independence from the British Colony of Gilbert & Ellice Group we have a Colonial flag presenting all the G & E Group, not just the Banaban people. The Government Headquarters for the G&E Group were located prewar on Banaba or Ocean Island as it was then known, and moved to Tarawa post war."

Jaume Ollé, 25 May 1998

According to Ken Sigrah, historian of the Banaban Heritage Society, none of the reported designs has ever been used by Banabans as a national flag. The second one was made from the logo of a former company called Rabi Holdings. At the end of British rule over the Gilbert Islands (1979), many Banabans wanted to become independent from Kiribati. Even those who still keep some hopes about future nationhood seem to be acknowledging only two current flags for Banabans, namely the Kiribati flag (for Banaba proper) and the Fijian flag (for Rabi Island, where a number of Banabans have settled).
Thanh-Tâm Lê, 14 December 1998