The flag of Christmas Island was unofficially adopted in 1986 after being chosen the winner in a competition for a flag for the territory. It was designed by Tony Couch of Sydney, Australia. The flag was made official in 2002 on

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and raising of the Union Flag by Arthur Phillip following days of exploration of Port ...

, when the administrator of the territory, Bill Taylor, presented the flag to the Christmas Island Shire.

Design

The flag of

Christmas Island Christmas Island, officially the Territory of Christmas Island, is an Australian external territory comprising the island of the same name. It is located in the Indian Ocean, around south of Java and Sumatra and around north-west of the ...

consists of a green and blue background, split from the top left corner to the bottom right. These colours are intended to represent the land and sea respectively. The

Southern Cross Crux () is a constellation of the southern sky that is centred on four bright stars in a cross-shaped asterism commonly known as the Southern Cross. It lies on the southern end of the Milky Way's visible band. The name ''Crux'' is Latin for ...

constellation appears in the bottom left of the flag similar to the flag of Australia. In the top right, the golden bosun bird (''Phaethon lepturus fulvus'', one of six subspecies of the

white-tailed tropicbird The white-tailed tropicbird (''Phaethon lepturus'') is a tropicbird. It is the smallest of three closely related seabirds of the tropical oceans and smallest member of the order Phaethontiformes. It is found in the tropical Atlantic, western P ...

) appears. It is considered to be a symbol of the Island. The last motif appears in the centre of the flag on a golden disc is the map of the island in green. The disc itself was originally only included to offset the green colour of the map, but has become linked to the mining industry.

History

Creation

In 1986, the Christmas Island Assembly announced a competition to design both a flag and a

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

for the territory. There was a prize fund of $100, and some 69 entries were submitted. The winning submission was created by Tony Couch, a resident of Sydney who had previously worked on Christmas Island. The new flag was announced on 14 April 1986, by the Christmas Island Assembly.

Implementation

The first attempt to make the flag official occurred in 1995 when the Minister of the Islands at the time took the view that implementation could take place on

1996 via a formal announcement by the Administrator rather than an amendment to the ''

Christmas Island Act 1958 Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

''. Although this was agreed, the declaration never took place. Subsequently, Christmas Island official Gary Dunt revived the issue in 2001 and the flag was formally declared the official flag of Christmas Island on Australia Day 2002 (26 January), by the administrator of the territory, Bill Taylor. Councillor Mariam Kawi accepted the flag as a representative of the

Shire of Christmas Island The Shire of Christmas Island is a local government area of the Australian external territory of Christmas Island (; post code: 6798). The island is grouped with Western Australia but is administered by the Attorney-General's Department and an ...

References

External links

''Christmas Island''
at ''

Ausflag Ausflag is an organisation that was established to promote a new flag of Australia. Ausflag was formed in 1981 by Harold Scruby who has since worked to foster debate on the design of the flag. Prominent Australians that have been involved in th ...

'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Christmas Island, Flag of 2002 establishments in Australia Flags introduced in 2002 Flags of Australian states and territories Flag Southern Cross flags Flags adopted through competition Flags displaying animals