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Fiji Islands

Post-indepedance flag contest
The British ensign on the flag

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Post-independence flag contest

Fiji held a competition on independence to design a new flag. The fact that they ended up with one so similar to the colonial ensign suggests a certain lack of imagination either on the part of the competitors or the judges! Anyway, the only main differences made were that the white disk behind the coat of arms was removed and the colour changed to light blue. A dark blue version, which must look virtually the same as the old colonial flag was adopted for use as the state ensign.

Stuart A. Notholt, 1996-FEB-09

The British ensign on the flag

Chris wrote:

Fiji got kicked out of the Commonwealth as a result of the racist coups d'etat in (I think) 1987. Didn't change it's flag, which is a defaced pale blue UK ensign.

Apparently (according to the Flag Bulletin) a public design competition was held in Fiji in 1990 for a new flag. A committee narrowed down the entries to six designs. But for some reason, the (now) republican government went cold on the idea, and dropped plans to change the flag. The six designs have never been made public.

So Fiji retains the pale blue British ensign as its flag, despite it being a republic and, after being kicked out of the Commonwealth, having absolutely no relationship with Britain whatsoever other than historical.

This struck me as being quite bizarre - after holding a military coup to make Fiji a republic in 1986, why such timidity in changing the flag?

Brendan Jones, 1995-AUG-10

Fiji still retains very close economic and political ties with the UK, which may possibly have influenced its decision to retain the old flag. Remember that the British Foreign Office does not recognize Fiji's withdrawal from the Commonwealth and therefore treats Fijian citizens as through they were still in the Commonwealth. The Fijian ambassador is still the High Commissioner, for example, and Fijian students can still apply for Commonwealth scholarships (I know this because I used to help administer one). I think the Foreign Office is basically turning a blind eye to the problem (something they are very good at!) in the hope that it will somehow disappear.

Stuart Notholt, 1995-AUG-23