Flag of the Solomon Islands

What the flag of the Solomon Islands looks like

The flag has a 1:2 ratio and is cut by a narrow yellow stripe that runs from the lower hoist corner (next to the pole) up to the upper fly corner. The blue triangle lies above the stripe, along the hoist and top edge. The green triangle lies below, toward the fly.

The five white stars sit in the blue triangle in the upper hoist corner, arranged in three offset rows in the shape of the letter X.

Solomon Islands flag meaning and symbolism

The meanings are:

• Blue for the water, including the rivers, the rain and the Pacific Ocean.
• Green for the land, with its trees and crops.
• Yellow for the sun and its rays, which separate the land and the ocean.
• The five stars for the five provinces at the time of independence: Central, Western, Eastern, Malaita and Honiara Capital.

The country now has nine provinces, plus the capital territory of Honiara, but the number of stars was not changed.

History of the Solomon Islands flag

The British declared a protectorate over the southern Solomon Islands in 1893, and later took over the northern part from Germany. Under British rule, the flag was a Blue Ensign (a blue flag with the Union Jack in the corner) defaced with the arms of the protectorate.

A contest to design a new flag was held in 1975. Earlier winning designs were scrapped, and the final design was created by a New Zealander teaching art at the King George VI School in Honiara. It was ratified on 18 November 1977, and the islands became independent on 7 July 1978. The flag has not changed since. The Solomon Islands remain in the Commonwealth, and the British monarch is head of state.

The flag appears on the flag emoji and at national events, and it can be compared with the other Pacific flags on the Oceania page.