Flag of Christmas Island

What the flag looks like

Divided diagonally from the upper hoist to the lower fly, blue below with the white stars of the Southern Cross and green above with a golden bird, and a gold disc in the center with a green map of the island.

What it means

Blue is the sea and green the island's forest; the Southern Cross stands for Australia, and the bird is the golden bosun, a form of white-tailed tropicbird found only on Christmas Island.

How to remember it

Christmas Island is blue sea and green jungle split on the diagonal, with the island's own map in a gold coin and a golden bosun bird in the green.

Fun facts

• Tony Couch of Sydney designed it for a 1986 competition; the territory declared it official in 2002, though the Australian Government describes it as used in the community rather than formally adopted.
• Every year tens of millions of red crabs migrate from the forest to the sea to breed.

Christmas Island at a glance

Status

External territory of Australia

Sovereign state

Australia

Capital

Flying Fish Cove

Region

Australian external territory

Population

1,692

Area

135 km²

Languages

English

Currency

Australian dollar ($)

Flag adopted

2002