1 the Flag Institute Wishes All Our Members Christmas Greetings And
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The Flag Institute wishes all our members Christmas greetings and a warm welcome to the second edition of eFlags, our virtual magazine, keeping you in touch with the world of flags and the Flag Institute The topical reasoning for our lead article this issue, is of course tongue in cheek, but we hope it will prove interesting none the less. Likewise we continue with what we hope will become a regular series of articles. Any comments or suggestions would be gratefully received at [email protected] . THE FLAGS OF THE CHRISTMAS ISLANDS page 2 FLAGS IN THE NEWS page 7 SITES OF VEXILLOGOCAL INTEREST page 8 PUTTING A FACE ON FLAGS page 9 FLAG INSTITUTE NEWS page 10 1 The Flags of the Christmas Islands The world is lucky enough to have two Christmas Islands, the first, situated almost centrally in the Pacific Ocean is maybe the more romantic in popular thought, having been the location of the Queen’s secret retreat house in Neville Shute’s novel In The Wet , it also claims to be the first permanently inhabited territory to have seen the dawn of the new millennium. The romantic view being only slightly marred by its being the location of the British H-bomb test site in the 1950s. The island itself makes up approximately 70% of the landmass of the Republic of Kiribati and is the location of four villages, London, Tabwakea, Banana and Poland with a total population of just over 5000. The island gets its name from the fact it was discovered on Christmas Eve 1777 by Captain James Cook. The island is part of a chain of Islands collectively known as the Line Islands which were annexed by the United Kingdom in 1888, to form the bases of a relay station for the planned Pacific Cable. Christmas Island, along with the rest of the Line Islands became part of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands British Crown colony in 1919. The colony was granted independence in 1979 under the name of Kiribati. The history of its flag usage at this time is fascinating. From its time as a protectorate starting 1895, through its time as a crown colony from 1916, firstly as the Gilbert Islands and later Gilbert and Ellis Islands, the islands had no distinct symbol of their own. From 1895 to 1937 the Resident Commissioners merely used a Blue ensign defaced with a crown and the letters B.R. 1919 – 1937 1937-1979 1979-date A FLAG HISTORY OF CHRISTMAS ISLAND, PACFIC OCEAN 2 Possibly one of the reasons for the lengthy period with no flag was the shear bureaucracy involved in getting official permission for a flag.(A blow by blow account of the almost comical proceedings has been researched by David Prothero and can be read on the FOTW website ) Suffice it to say it took almost 6 years, involved nine separate government departments and agencies and then need an additional four years for the Admiralty to acknowledge the change in the now infamous BR20 Flags of the world . The story begun in August 1931 when the Resident Commissioner submitted a sketch by a Mr. Compton, for a flag. The actual sketch no longer exists but has been reconstructed as per drawing on the left. The design itself was highly symbolic. The sea represented the ocean in which colony is located. The Sun, either rising or setting, symbolizing the 180 degree meridian. The bird, a frigate bird (Fregat Aquilla), a symbol of power, poise and freedom, and in the island culture, a sign of sovereignty and kingly birth. And finally the crown poised over the frigate bird to convey the idea that all the power and freedom granted to people of the colony emanates from and are under the protection of the sovereign. From this starting point, the argument ranged, as to suitability and style of crown, (that took 4 years), whether this was a badge or a coat of arms, and hence whether the College of Arms needed to be involved, and finally who was going to pay the bill, by now reaching the grand sum of Twenty-Five Pounds and One Shilling. When all was finally settled the warrant was sent by the Colonial Office to the King's Private Secretary and was signed by King George VI on 1st May 1937. One final point which flag usage in this colony produced was the use of defaced Union Flags. Although The Gilbert and Ellice Islands did not have a governor until 1972, a "governor's style flag" was used by the Resident Commissioners from the time of the arms granting in 1937. Indeed this use of the Union Flag defaced with the colonial arms (as right) was cited as precedent when a dispute arose over which flag the Administrator of St Christopher and Nevis could fly. A Colonial Office minute of 28 April 1938 noted that a defaced Union Flag for an Administrator was probably a precedent set by the Resident Commissioners of Gilbert and Ellice Islands 1. 1 National Archives (PRO) CO 323/1575/13] 3 A disputed design and bureaucracy gone mad did not end there When the Islands were preparing for independence in 1979 a local competition was held to choose a new national flag and a design based on the colonial coat of arms, was the winning entry. However the College of Arms, possibly remembering the fun their forefathers had a generation previously, 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 this time insisted on the original design. Hence the red top part and the bottom wavy part are of equal size, the sun and local frigate birds are small, hence the various design elements are outlined in black. The new flag was hoisted during the Independence Day celebrations in the capital, Tarawa, on 12 July 1979 The second Christmas Island, a remote and isolated island located in the Indian Ocean, is constitutionally an overseas Territory of Australia, and from a vexillologist’s point of view is equally fascinating. The Island’s inaccessibility prevented colonization for centuries. Indeed it did not even receive a name until Captain William Mynors of the East India Company ship, the Royal Mary arrived off its coast on Christmas Day 1643. And even then it was to take another 45years before men from the British ship Cygnet under the command of Captain William Dampier finally set foot on the island, in March 1688. And yet another 200 years before a permanent settlement was established, after the island was officially annexed by the British on 6 th June 1888. From 1888 the island was administered jointly by the British Phosphate Commissioners 2 and District Officers from the United Kingdom Colonial Office through the Straits 1888-1946 1946-1958 1958 A FLAG HISTORY OF CHRISTMAS ISLAND, INDIAN OCEAN 2 A joint condominium controlled by Australia New Zealand and Australia. They appear not to use an independent symbol, from photographic evidence at the official Jubilee Celebrations on Ocean Island in 1960 they appear to have used the three national flags in conjunction : http://www.radnor.com.au/coolaroodesign/ocean_island/banaba_colour/display_pages/24.html 4 Settlements. After 1946 administration was transferred to the Crown Colony of Singapore, until 1 st January 1958. Christmas Island then became a separate crown colony in preparation, at Australia's request, for the United Kingdom to transfer sovereignty to Australia, on 1st October 1958, after the Australian government paid the government of Singapore £2.9 million in compensation, a figure based mainly on an estimated value of the phosphate foregone by Singapore. The first Australian Official Representative arrived in 1958 and was replaced by an Administrator in 1968. Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands together are called the Australian Indian Ocean Territories and since 1997 share a single Administrator resident on Christmas Island. Flag Adopted: In Use since 14 th April 1986; Made official 26 th January 2002 Flag Proportion: 1:2 Use: State and Civil Flag In 1986 the Christmas Island Assembly held a design competition for an island flag and coat of arms. The flag competition attracted 69 entries from residents and non-residents who had lived or worked on the island, and carried prize money of $100. The winning design was submitted by Tony Couch of Sydney, Australia, who had worked on Christmas Island for four years as a phosphate mining rigging supervisor, and the design was announced by the Assembly on 14 April 1986. The flag has a striking similarity to that of Papua New Guinea and is deep in meaning. The blue field represents the sea that surrounds the island while the green field represents the lush vegetation of the island itself. The Southern Cross, in the same form as it appears on the Australian flag, represents Christmas Island's 5 connection with Australia as well as its location in the southern hemisphere. The bird is a Golden Bosun, not only native, but unique to the island, and had long been a popular symbol amongst islanders. The yellow disc represents the island's history in phosphate mining. Finally, there is a map of the island in the centre of the disc. Ever since its introduction, its unofficial nature of the flag had caused some discern among residents and there has been growing pressure for it to be made official. In 1995 legal advice was sought as to how this might happen.