Page 1 of 1

Changing the Flag of Fiji

Posted: 11 Feb 2015, 11:42
by Chris Green

Re: Changing the Flag of Fiji

Posted: 14 Aug 2015, 14:03
by Arthur Radburn
It appears that the process of designing a new flag has now reached an advanced stage. The process is somewhat different to New Zealand's, that we are discussing in another thread. The committee called for public submissions, received a couple of thousand of them, and then took ideas from them and produced new designs. The government will make the choice, and submit it to parliament for final approval.

This is the current flag :

Image

The twenty-three designs on the shortlist for the government to choose from are :

Image

The symbolism of the various colours and charges is explained as :

Image

The 'davui' is the seashell and the 'drua' is the sailing boat/canoe.

Re: Changing the Flag of Fiji

Posted: 14 Aug 2015, 15:38
by Michael F. McCartney
Interesting! - and I suppose inevitable. Queen Elizabeth has been replaced by Fijian flora and fauna on their currency. I wonder if the English Lion on the coat of arms will suffer a similar fate.

Re: Changing the Flag of Fiji

Posted: 19 Aug 2015, 21:47
by Mike_Oettle
In answer to your question, Mike, I think it highly likely. The new arms (or logo) will in all likelihood be based on the design finally decided on for the flag.
It is interesting that the new currency does not include any images of personages — I would have thought that at least the 19th-century king Cakobau (or whatever they actually called him in Fiji) might have featured.

Re: Changing the Flag of Fiji

Posted: 20 Aug 2015, 01:26
by Michael F. McCartney
Well, Cakobao wasn't exactly the model to emulate. He was a local chief with ambitions beyond his abilities and resources, even with English advisors, and after three years IIRC his kingdom folded and the chiefs asked Queen Victoria to take over. I doubt the Commodore would want that on his currency! And parrots and kava bowls etc. are attractive and non-controversial.

On the other hand, I would have thought the heraldic seal and flag of Cakobao - a white dove with a leaf of some sort in its beak on a red shield - may have some resonance. It appears, with different colors, in one of the quarters of the current arms, and we saw it in white on blue on the car door of a district administrator - don't recall his exact title - in the countryside north of Suva. (A variation of the dove and leaf also appears in the arms of the Kingdom of Tonga.)

This image, in whatever colors, is notably absent from the collection of Fijian flag candidates, but I suppose could serve as an element in a new heraldic seal , maybe as a quartering or crest. If not, it will still survive in the Cakobao exhibit in the national historical museum in Suva.