Flag of New Caledonia

[
South Pacific Games.]

French flag is still in use

The only flag in official use in New Caledonia, an overseas territory of France, is the French tricolor.

In 2008, Government of New Caledonia is debating the introduction of a regional official flag and anthem, as required by the Accord de Nouméa. A flag in fairly widespread unofficial use, is the flag of the Kanak Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS), a political party favoring independence for New Caledonia, but the French tricolor remains the only official flag.

The FLNKS political flag

The FLNKS flag, first adopted by the party in 1980, is composed of three fesses of blue (Pantone 286c), red (Pantone 032c) and green (Pantone 347c) charged with a yellow (Pantone 102c) disc of a diameter two-thirds the height of the flag centered at a position of one-third the width of the flag, measured from the hoist side. The disc is fibrated black and defaced with a vertical symbol, also black.

The blue symbolizes both the sky but more importantly the ocean surrounding New Caledonia. The red symbolizes the blood shed by the Kanaks in their struggle for independence, socialism, and unity. The green symbolizes the land itself and by extension the ancestors buried within it. The yellow disc is a representation of the sun and the symbol upon it consists of a "flèche faitière", a kind of arrow which adorns the roofs of Kanak houses thrust through "tutut" shells.

Provincial flags

New Caledonia is divided into three provinces, each with its own flag.

External links

*FOTW|id=nc%7Dflnks|title=Kanak Socialist National Liberation Front