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Fiji Islands Flag - Republic of the
SKU: FJI35P
Voyagers from the east first settled Fiji around 2,500 years ago with
descendants later moving on to settle the Polynesian islands to the west. The
first known European contact came when the Dutch navigator Abel Tasman sighted
the Fiji Islands in 1643 and English explorer Captain James Cook visited in
1774, . Protestant missionaries from Tonga arrived in 1835, and French Catholic
priests in 1844. After a few chiefs converted, Fijians embraced Christianity.
During a civil war in the 1850s, Cakobau, the most powerful chief in Fiji,
combined forces with the king of Tonga to become paramount chief of western
Fiji. In 1871, much of the European population supported Cakobau's
claim as King of all Fiji, but the claim was met with opposition. Cakobau's
government appealed to Britain for assistance and, on 10 October 1874, Fijian
chiefs signed a Deed of Cession making Fiji a British Crown Colony.
Britain granted Fiji full independence within the Commonwealth on October 10,
1970. Fiji underwent two coupe-d'etats in the 1980's resulting in the
declaration of a Republic and expulsion from the Commonwealth. Although
remaining a republic, the nation was readmitted to the Commonwealth in 1997. The
Great Council of Chiefs still today recognizes Queen Elizabeth as its
Paramount Chief.
Fiji's flag flew for the first time on Independence Day.. It includes the
red, white and blue Union Flag of Britain in the top left-hand corner and the
shield from the Fiji Coat of Arms on a light blue background in the fly. The
design was selected as the result of a competition won jointly by Mr. Robi
Wilcock and Mrs. Murray MacKenzie. Fiji's national Coat of arms consists of two
Fijian warriors on either side of a shield bearing the motto "Rerevaka na Kalou
ka Doka na Tui" or " Fear God and honour the Queen." The shield has the
image of a heraldic lion holding a cocoa pod across the top. Sugarcane, a
coconut palm and a bunch of bananas are represented in three of the
shield's four quadrants. The fourth is a dove of peace symbolising the flag of
the Kingdom of Viti which ceded its power to the British. Discussions are
currently underway which could eventually result in the shield being replaced by the full Coat of Arms.
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