---
title: "Flag of Papua New Guinea: colours and meaning"
description: "What every colour and symbol on the Papua New Guinea flag stands for, its official 3:4 ratio, and the year the current design was adopted."
url: https://atoneplace.net/flag/papua-new-guinea/
site: "At One Place"
---

# The flag of Papua New Guinea

**The flag of Papua New Guinea: A field divided diagonally from the top hoist to the bottom fly: the upper fly half red with a golden bird of paradise, the lower hoist half black with the five white stars of the Southern Cross.**

Ratio 3:4 · current design adopted 1971

The design was created in 1971 by Susan Karike, a fifteen-year-old schoolgirl, after a national competition rejected the official proposal — which had used blue, green and gold — on the grounds that it looked imposed. Karike's version used red and black, the colours most widely used in traditional dress and art across the country, and it was adopted almost immediately. She received little recognition in her lifetime and was given a state funeral in 2013. The diagonal division is shared with almost no other national flag except Bhutan's and the DRC's.

## 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.*

- **Red** (#CE1126) — A traditional colour of the country's peoples
- **Black** (#000000) — The second traditional colour
- **Gold** (#FCD116) — The Raggiana bird of paradise
- **White** (#FFFFFF) — The stars of the Southern Cross

## The symbols on it

| What | What it stands for |
| --- | --- |
| Raggiana bird of paradise | The national bird, and the country's emergence into nationhood |
| Southern Cross | The constellation, and the country's place in the South Pacific |

- **Ratio:** 3:4
- **Current design adopted:** 1971
- **Colours:** red, black, gold, white

## Common questions

### What does the flag of Papua New Guinea look like?

A field divided diagonally from the top hoist to the bottom fly: the upper fly half red with a golden bird of paradise, the lower hoist half black with the five white stars of the Southern Cross.

### What do the colours of the Papua New Guinea flag mean?

Red: a traditional colour of the country's peoples. Black: the second traditional colour. Gold: the Raggiana bird of paradise. White: the stars of the Southern Cross.

### When was the Papua New Guinea flag adopted?

The current design dates from 1971, and its official ratio is 3:4.

## Related pages

- [Papua New Guinea](https://atoneplace.net/country/papua-new-guinea/)
- [Every flag with red in it](https://atoneplace.net/flag/colour/red/)
- [The flag of United States](https://atoneplace.net/flag/united-states/)
- [The flag of United Kingdom](https://atoneplace.net/flag/united-kingdom/)
- [The flag of Canada](https://atoneplace.net/flag/canada/)
- [The flag of France](https://atoneplace.net/flag/france/)
- [The flag of China](https://atoneplace.net/flag/china/)
- [The flag of Germany](https://atoneplace.net/flag/germany/)
- [The flag of Russia](https://atoneplace.net/flag/russia/)
- [The flag of Italy](https://atoneplace.net/flag/italy/)

## Sources

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