A new flag for Fiji should be up by next year a move thought to be truly independent.
The public consultations on a new national flag, will end on December 31, 2015. Cabinet and then Parliament will consider the new flag design when it convenes in 2016.
The design for Fiji’s national flag was the result of a competition won jointly by Robi Wedlock and Murray MacKenzie.
According to The Fiji Times edition of October 11, 1974, the top left hand quarter is a reproduction of the Union Flag which was the flag of the colony of Fiji after the islands were ceded to the British Crown on October 10, 1874.
It has a reproduction of the shield from the colony’s coat of arms, which the dominion retained, The Fiji Times reported. In three of the four quarters of the shield, sugar cane, coconuts and bananas are shown representing the traditional agricultural foundation of Fiji’s economy.
The fourth quarter, containing a dove of peace was the main feature of the flag of the Cakobau Government immediately before Cession. Above the shield, a heraldic lion holds a cocoa pod in its paws.
In its national use, the flag has a background of air force blue, The Fiji Times reported. However, earlier this year, Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama annouced the need to replace the symbols on Fiji’s existing flag, adding it was out of date and no longer relevant, including some anchored to its colonial past.
“The new flag should reflect Fiji’s position in the world today as a modern and truly independent nation state.”
After a national competition, the new design will be unveiled on 10 October, the 45th anniversary of independence, Mr Bainimarama said.
The Fiji Times ran the result of its Tebutt Times Poll in July, where 87 per cent of those interviewed preferred that Fijians be given a chance to vote on a new flag. At least 83 per cent wanted the coat of arms retained on the new flag and at least 57 per cent preferred that the current flag remain.
