Kiribati

The Kiribati flag is based on the coat of arms adopted for the Gilbert and Ellice islands (a British colony) in 1937, based on an original design by the then British resident commissioner, Sir Arthur Grimble. It represents a rising sun (in the Gilbertese language otintaai), flown over by a frigate (te eitei, Fregata minor), which emerges from the waves of the Pacific. The sun throws 17 rays (the 16 islands Gilbert and Banaba). There are versions of the flag with 21 or 22 rays, as many atolls currently inhabited in the republic. The waters of the Pacific are as three as the three main archipelagos (Gilbert, the Phoenix Islands and islands of the Equatorial Line or Sporades). The frigate (Fregata minor) is the emblematic bird of the gilbertesi or I-Kiribati. The flag was adopted and hoisted on July 12, 1979, the day of independence from the United Kingdom. The Kiribati (officially the Republic of Kiribati) is an island state of Oceania of about 110 000 inhabitants with capital Tarawa South. They are a parliamentary republic, the current president is Taneti Mamau. The official languages ??are English and Gilbertese. Kiribati (pronounced "Kìribas", ['kiribas]) is the gilbertese spelling of English "Gilberts" (current diminutive of "Gilbert Islands"). In fact, in the Gilbertese language the sounds of Latin G, L and S are written K, R and TI and the syllables are necessarily open. The Kiribati flag is one of the few in Oceania not to depict the British Union Jack. On a red background, the flag depicts the rising sun rising from the sea and casts 17 rays, the 16 Gilbert and Banaba islands. Above the sun a magnificent frigate is drawn (in the local language te eitei).