---
title: "Flag of Palau: colours and meaning"
description: "What every colour and symbol on the Palau flag stands for, its official 5:8 ratio, and the year the current design was adopted. Plus the flags it gets mistaken for."
url: https://atoneplace.net/flag/palau/
site: "At One Place"
---

# The flag of Palau

**The flag of Palau: A light blue field with a large yellow disc set slightly toward the hoist of centre.**

Ratio 5:8 · current design adopted 1981

*[Flag drawn on the page: Palau]*

The disc is the moon, not the sun, which is the fact people get wrong: Palauan custom holds the full moon to be the optimal time for almost every important activity, so the emblem is a calendar rather than an astronomical statement. Like Bangladesh's, the disc is deliberately off-centre toward the hoist so that it looks centred on a flying flag. The design was chosen in 1981 from among 1,000 entries. Japan's flag is the obvious comparison and the colours are entirely different.

## Flags it gets confused with

*[Flag drawn on the page: Palau, Japan, Bangladesh]*

*Drawn at each flag’s own official ratio, which is itself the difference in some of these pairs.*

| Flag | How to tell them apart |
| --- | --- |
| Japan | Japan is a red disc on white, centred. Palau is a yellow moon on light blue, off-centre. |
| Bangladesh | Bangladesh is a red disc on dark green. |

## What the colours mean

*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.*

- **Light blue** (#4AADD6) — The Pacific Ocean, and the transition to self-government
- **Yellow** (#FFDE00) — The full moon

## The symbols on it

| What | What it stands for |
| --- | --- |
| The disc | The full moon — considered in Palauan tradition the best time for fishing, planting, harvesting and celebration |

- **Ratio:** 5:8
- **Current design adopted:** 1981
- **Colours:** light blue, yellow

## Common questions

### What does the flag of Palau look like?

A light blue field with a large yellow disc set slightly toward the hoist of centre.

### What do the colours of the Palau flag mean?

Light blue: the Pacific Ocean, and the transition to self-government. Yellow: the full moon.

### How do you tell the Palau flag from the Japan one?

Japan is a red disc on white, centred. Palau is a yellow moon on light blue, off-centre.

### When was the Palau flag adopted?

The current design dates from 1981, and its official ratio is 5:8.

## Related pages

- [Palau](https://atoneplace.net/country/palau/)
- [The flag of Japan](https://atoneplace.net/flag/japan/)
- [The flag of Bangladesh](https://atoneplace.net/flag/bangladesh/)
- [Every flag with light blue in it](https://atoneplace.net/flag/colour/light blue/)
- [The flag of Luxembourg](https://atoneplace.net/flag/luxembourg/)
- [The flag of Honduras](https://atoneplace.net/flag/honduras/)
- [The flag of Fiji](https://atoneplace.net/flag/fiji/)
- [The flag of San Marino](https://atoneplace.net/flag/san-marino/)

## Sources

- The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency (https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/) [Public domain (US Government)]