Tonga Flag - Kingdom of

The Kingdom of is an archipelago nation in the South Pacific Ocean comprising 169 islands, 36 of them inhabited, stretching over a distance of about 800 kilometres in a north-south line. It is the only surviving monarchy among the island nations of the Pacific Ocean, as well as being the only island nation never to have been formally colonized. The islands are also known as the Friendly Islands because of the warm reception accorded to British explorer Captain Cook on his first visit in 1773.

Tonga was united into a Polynesian kingdom in 1845 by Prince Uelingatoni Ngu Tupoumalohi, who would later be crowned and baptised George I in the name of Britain’s King George V. It became a British protectorate complete with High Commissioner, under a Treaty of Friendship negotiated in 1900 after European settlers failed to oust the second Tonga King. The death of Queen Salote Tupou III in 1970 ended the Treaty of Friendship and Tonga's protectorate status under arrangements established prior to her death. Tonga joined the Commonwealth of Nations in 1970 as an autochthonous monarchy whereby the native hereditary monarch is head of state rather than a hereditary member of the House of Windsor.

The flag of Tonga is often mistaken for the Red Cross flag. It was originally identical to the Red Cross but was changed to avoid confusion moving the red cross emblem to the canton of a British Red Ensign. The red field is intended to represent the blood of Christ and the cross his crucifixion. At the request of the George Tupou I in 1862, the Tonga constitution was amended to state that the flag shall never be altered. It was adopted on November 4, 1875.