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The flag of Marshall Islands

The flag of Marshall Islands
A dark blue field crossed by two diagonal stripes — orange over white — widening as they rise from the lower hoist to the upper fly, with a large white 24-pointed star in the upper hoist.
Ratio 10:19 · current design adopted 1979

The widening diagonal is a deliberate depiction of the equator with the archipelago rising above it, which makes this one of the few flags that encodes its country's latitude. The star has 24 points, four of them extended for Majuro, Ebeye, Jaluit and Wotje. It was designed by Emlain Kabua, the first president's wife, and adopted at self-government in 1979. The 10:19 ratio matches the United States flag, a legacy of the trusteeship period.

What the colours mean

  • Blue #003893 The Pacific Ocean
  • Orange #DD7500 The Ratak, or sunrise, chain of islands; also courage
  • White #FFFFFF The Ralik, or sunset, chain; also peace

Flag laws usually specify a Pantone chip, a CMYK mix or just a colour name. Converting any of those to sRGB is lossy, which is why published hex values disagree.

The symbols on it

What What it stands for
24-pointed star The 24 municipal districts; four longer rays mark the main population centres
The rising stripes The equator, and the islands' position just north of it
Ratio
10:19
Current design adopted
1979
Colours
blue, orange, white

Common questions

What does the flag of Marshall Islands look like?
A dark blue field crossed by two diagonal stripes — orange over white — widening as they rise from the lower hoist to the upper fly, with a large white 24-pointed star in the upper hoist.
What do the colours of the Marshall Islands flag mean?
Blue: the Pacific Ocean. Orange: the Ratak, or sunrise, chain of islands; also courage. White: the Ralik, or sunset, chain; also peace.
When was the Marshall Islands flag adopted?
The current design dates from 1979, and its official ratio is 10:19.

Related pages

Sources

  1. The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency (Public domain (US Government))

How these figures are compiled and checked