Country flag
Vanuatu Flag
Vanuatu’s flag combines black, red, green and gold in a strongly asymmetrical layout. Its 1980 legal declaration presents the national flag in a schedul...
Where is Vanuatu?
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Zoomed location
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About Vanuatu and its flag
Vanuatu’s flag combines black, red, green and gold in a strongly asymmetrical layout. Its 1980 legal declaration presents the national flag in a schedule. Government history places Vanuatu’s full sovereignty on 30 July 1980, after the islands’ Anglo-French Condominium period, providing the national setting for the flag.
Flag design and meaning
The flag has a red upper field and green lower field. A black chevron fills the hoist and contains a gold boar’s tusk around two crossed gold namele leaves. A gold Y-shaped divider, edged in black, extends from the hoist across the flag and separates the red and green fields.
- Boar’s tusk: The tusk connects the flag’s emblem with traditional wealth: Vanuatu’s official statistics agency lists pig tusks among valuable items used in customary ceremonial exchange.
- Crossed namele leaves: The leaves draw on a traditional cultural sign. A Republic of Vanuatu Supreme Court decision describes namele as an important traditional symbol and a powerful taboo sign; this identifies its cultural association without assigning a formal meaning to the flag’s colours.
History and adoption
The State Flag and Armorial Bearings Public Declaration dates from 1980, before Vanuatu gained full sovereignty on 30 July that year. The government describes the islands as the New Hebrides under an Anglo-French Condominium beforehand. The available legal and government sources support this 1980 transition, but do not substantiate a first-raising location, so none is stated here.
How to recognise this flag
- Look for the black hoist chevron holding a gold boar’s tusk around crossed leaves; it distinguishes the flag from simple tricolours.
- Follow the gold, black-edged Y from the hoist toward the fly: it separates the red upper field from the green lower field.
Vanuatu flag quiz context
On Name The Flag, the Vanuatu flag is currently grouped as expert difficulty for quiz progression.
Its region is listed as Oceania, which helps place the country among nearby geography questions in the game.
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