Flag of Samoa
Officially Independent State of Samoa
Locally Sāmoa
What the flag looks like
A red field with a blue rectangle in the upper hoist containing the Southern Cross as five white five-pointed stars, one of them smaller.
What it means
The Southern Cross marks Samoa's place in the southern sky; red is said to stand for courage, blue for freedom and white for purity.
How to remember it
Samoa
: a red flag with a blue corner holding the five white stars of the Southern Cross; Taiwan's
blue corner holds a white sun instead.
Fun facts
- Samoa skipped 30 December 2011 entirely when it moved to the west side of the International Date Line.
- In 2009 Samoa switched from driving on the right to driving on the left.
- The country was called Western Samoa until 1997.
Samoa at a glance
- Capital
- Apia
- Region
- Polynesia
- Population
- 218,019
- Area
- 2,842 km²
- Languages
- English, Samoan
- Currency
- Samoan tālā (T)
- Flag adopted
- 1949