Tuvalu Flag
The current flag of Tuvalu was instated when the country became independent in 1978, after the separation from the Gilbert Islands in 1976.
Like many former and current British dependencies, the Tuvaluan flag is a blue ensignbased on the Union Flag, which is shown in the upper left canton of the flag; yet has a sky blue field rather than the conventional blue. The previous flag (with the Gilberts) was also based on the Union Flag however with the layer of arms created by Sir Arthur Grimble in 1932, the resident commissioner of the Britishcolony.
The stars represent the nine islands which comprise Tuvalu; the arrangement is geographically correct, with the east towards the top (i.e. north to the left).
History
The British province of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands was divided in 1975 because the Melanesians overwhelming the Gilbert Islands (now Kiribati) and the Polynesians on the Ellice Islands (presently Tuvalu) preferred to have separate states. The new Tuvalu government was granted an escutcheon by British authorities on December 3, 1976. This was used on the Union Jack as a state flag and on the British Blue Ensign as a state ensign. On the third anniversary of separation from the Gilberts—October 1, 1978—Tuvalu became independent under a new national flag. Designed by Vione Natano, the flag was like that of nearby Fiji.
The name "Tuvalu" means "eight together", referring to the eight islands which were inhabited. In October 1995 one of the stars on the flag was removed to adjust with the country's name.
In 1995 advocates of a republican type of government were successful in presenting a new national flag from which the Union Jack was omitted. Hoisted on October 1, 1995, it had eight white stars spread across even red-white-blue-white-red stripes. The national crest appeared on a white triangle near the derrick. Those opposed to a republic were successful in compelling a reversion to the first independence flag on April 11, 1997.
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