The flag of

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

() was first adopted from 24 February 1949, for UN Trusteeships, and continuously applied for the state's independence on 1 January 1962. It consists of a red field with a blue rectangle in the canton. The blue rectangle bears the

Southern Cross CRUX is a lightweight x86-64 Linux distribution targeted at experienced Linux users and delivered by a tar.gz-based package system with BSD-style initscripts. It is not based on any other Linux distribution. It also utilizes a ports system to ...

: four large white stars and one smaller star. It makes a total of five white stars. The flag is officially defined by the ''Official Flag and National Anthem of Samoa Act 1994''. When it is being raised or lowered in public, people and vehicles must stop and remain stationary until the performance is complete. Those who deface the flag or who wilfully insult it can be imprisoned for up to six months.''Official Flag and National Anthem of Samoa Act 1994 UFO'', section 7.

Historical flags

Prior to the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

was a

colony A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their ''metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often orga ...

of the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

. German colonies used the flag of the

Imperial Colonial Office The Imperial Colonial Office or Reich Colonial Office () was a governmental agency of the German Empire tasked with managing German colonial empire, Germany's overseas territories. Dissolved after World War I, on 20 February 1919 the Reich Colon ...

, a black-white-red tricolour defaced with the

Imperial Eagle The eagle is used in heraldry as a charge, as a supporter, and as a crest. Heraldic eagles can be found throughout world history like in the Achaemenid Empire or in the present Republic of Indonesia. The European post-classical symbolism of ...

. The Imperial German government intended to introduce specific flags for the colonies (also based on the tricolour) and several proposals were created, but the war and the subsequent loss of all overseas territories prevented their official adoption.

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

occupied

German Samoa German Samoa officially Malo Kaisalika / Kingdom of Samoa (; Samoan: ''Malo Kaisalika'') was a German protectorate from 1900 to 1920, consisting of the islands of Upolu, Savai'i, Apolima and Manono, now wholly within the Independent State ...

in 1914 and officially gained control of the territory in 1919. From the capture by New Zealand forces on 29 August 1914, a defaced ensign with three palm trees encircled, and emblazoned on the fly were used. File:Flag_of_Samoa_(1858-1873)_as_reported_in_the_Flags_of_Paradise_chart.svg, Flag of the Kingdom of Samoa as depicted in the Flags of Paradise chart, similar to the Ottoman flag (1858-1873) File:Flag_of_Samoa_(1873-1875).svg, Flag of the Kingdom of Samoa (1873-1875) File:Flag_of_Samoa_(1875-1879).svg, Flag of the Kingdom of Samoa (1875-1879) File:Flag_of_Samoa_(1879).svg, Flag of the Kingdom of Samoa (1879-1887, 1889-1899). Flag was also used by the

Mau Movement The Mau was a nonviolence, non-violent movement for Samoan independence from colony, colonial rule during the first half of the 20th century. ''Mau'' means 'resolute' or 'resolved' in the sense of 'opinion', 'unwavering', 'to be decided', o ...

File:Flag_of_Tuiaana_line_1873-1887_1889-1900.svg, Flag of the Tui A'ana dynasty in the Kingdom of Samoa (1875-1887, 1889–1900). File:Flag_of_Tupua_Tamasesse_1887-1889.svg, Flag of the Tupua Tamasesse in the Kingdom of Samoa (1887–1889) File:Reichskolonialflagge.svg, Flag of the German Colonial Office (1899-1914) File:Flaggenhissung Samoa.jpg, The German colonial flag is raised, 1 March 1900 File:Flag of Deutsch-Samoa.svg, Proposal for German Samoa's flag, never adopted File:Occupation of German-Samoa 1914.jpg, Hoisting of the

Union Jack The Union Jack or Union Flag is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. The Union Jack was also used as the official flag of several British colonies and dominions before they adopted their own national flags. It is sometimes a ...

, 30 August 1914 File:Flag of New Zealand.svg, The flag of New Zealand was used during the control of NZ-forces (1914–1920) File:Flag of the Samoa Trust Territory.svg, Official flag of

Western Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabit ...

under Mandate with New Zealand (17 December 1920 – 1 January 1962) File:Flag of Samoa (1948-1949).svg, Initial flag of

acquired but not approved (26 May 1948) File:Flag_of_Samoa.svg, Flag of Western Samoa, later renamed to Samoa (24 February 1949 – present)

References

External links

*
World Statesmen – Samoa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Samoa, Flag of Flags introduced in 1949

Flag A flag is a piece of textile, fabric (most often rectangular) with distinctive colours and design. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design employed, and fla ...

National flags Southern Cross flags

Flags with blue, red and white

Historical flags

See also

References

External links