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Kiribati

by Zeljko Heimer 1996-02-29

Description and history of the flag

The flag is the banner of the arms that was given to Gilbert and Elice Islands in 1937. Ellice became what we know as Tuvalu today, and Gilbert changed name to Kiribati, but the shield remained the same. It is red with white-blue wavy lines in bottom representing the ocean, golden sun rising from it, and above it a bird flying. This flag came in use in 1979.
Until then Gilbert and Ellice used blue duster with the same shield, and a motto 'Fear the God, respect the king'. This was official since 1969. What is actually written there is: 'Maaka te atua, karinea te uea; mataku i te atua, fakamamalu ki te tupu'.
Zeljko Heimer 1996-02-29

"Kiribati" is pronounced Kirribarce (accent on the first sillabe), and is a rendering into an Oceanic language form of the English name Gilberts (the shorthand form of the Gilbert Islands' name). So in one sense it didn't really change its name, just the spelling.
Stuart Park 1996-02-29

Banabe

I know of two designs for an Ocean Island or Banabe Flags. One comes from Volume 1 Number 3 of the Bulletin of the Hungarian Vexillological Association "Flagworld" page 32 by Mr Laszlo Balogh. He describes a flag thus. Draw a rectangle, put throughout a white saltire. The top and bottom triangles are blue and the left and right triangles are red. The second flag for Ocean Island I know of is a field of medium blue, with a white central disc. Inside the white disc is a central emblem coloured gold, of a stylized silhouette map of Ocean Island itself. Laid over this and extending over the circle is a black frigate bird in flight.
Paul Lindsay 1996-09-21