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Christmas Island

Last modified: 2016-10-07 by ian macdonald
Keywords: christmas island | golden bosun | southern cross | stars: southern cross | map: christmas island |
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[flag of Christmas Island] image by Željko Heimer
Flag ratio 1:2, adopted 14 Apr 1986, made official 26 Jan 2002


See also

History of the Flag

The flag of Christmas Island was chosen from a flag competition held in 1986 and announced on April 14, 1986. There were 69 entries in the competition which had a prize of $100 (Australian). The winning design was created by Tony Couch of Sydney, who had worked on the island for 4 years as a phosphate mining rigging supervisor. Although the flag was selected, its status has not been officially approved by the Christmas Island Assembly.

As you know, Christmas Island off the coast of Australia has had an unofficial flag since the 1980s. It appears this flag has been official since Australia Day 2002. I wrote the Christmas Island Government. They sent me this article, which is here.
Joshua Holman, 20 April 2006

The article the link refers to was published in The Islander, issue no. 245, on 1 February 2002. The Islander is the newsletter of the Shire of Christmas Island and the only local newspaper in circulation.
Margaret Robinson, CEO, Shire of Christmas Island, 26 April 2006

As far as the current status of Christmas Island, here are the basics:
http://regional.gov.au/territories/Christmas/governanceadministration.aspx
http://www.indianoceanterritories.com.au

1 Oct 1958 Following request by Commonwealth of Australia to the UK Parliament it became an Australian Territory under the Christmas Island Act 1958. Under that Act laws in force on the Island immediately before transfer to Australia were to continue (ie, laws of the Colony of Singapore as specified in the Christmas Island Order in Council 1957 plus certain regulations made by the Administrator of the Colony of Christmas Island during the period 1 Jan - 30 Oct 1958).

1984 Australian Government announced decision to move towards 'normalisation' policy and extension of mainland laws to Christmas Island. First Christmas Island Assembly elected by residents in 1985.

1 July 1992 the Local Government (Transition) Ordinance 1992 (under the Christmas Island Act 1992) established the Christmas Island Shire Council to direct and provide services to residents of the Island. The Council has the same powers as a Western Australian shire council. It replaced the Assembly and Services Corporation (Western Australia state laws were applied to the island).
Ben Cahoon, 4 September 2016


Symbolism of the flag

The blue and green triangles represent the sea surrounding the island and the vegetation of the island. The Southern cross in the blue triangle is the representation appearing in the Australian flag.

The image in the green triangle is the Golden Bosun Burd, which is unique to the island.

The gold disk in the center of the flag represents the island's phosphate mining history and originally included to provide a background for the green map of Christmas Island.

The flag was certainly influenced by that of Papua New Guinea
Željko Heimer, 7 February 2001

Carlos Esperza suggests that the southern cross may have stars with different numbers of points, as on the Victorian and Northern Territory flags:

[Alternative design] image by Carlos Esperza

My wife has returned from working on the Island and reported that the flag was flown at the Airport but not seen elsewhere as locals report they are frequently stolen, presumably as souvenirs.

A postcard photo [differs from] the Carlos Esperza version with the star to the right having 7 points. The green is darker (as in Norfolk Island).
Hayden Williams, 4 March 2006