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Governor-General's Flag 1970-c.2000 (Fiji)

11:15
by Graham Bartram and Zeljko Heimer
Flag adopted 1970, currently obsolete

Description

See also:

Fiji

Description

According to Smith 1985, Fiji's Governor-General's flag has proportions 11:15 and is similar to others (blue with royal crest) but the name of the territory (Fiji) appears on a white tabua or whalebone (a traditional Fijian welcome gift) instead of a scroll.

Santiago Dotor, 20 November 1998

From the Fiji Government Official Website [broken link]:

The tabua, a whale's tooth, is much prized in Fijian tradition. It takes precedence over everything else and occupies first place in Fijian ceremony, whether for family, intertribal or state occasions. It is regarded as a sacred bond between two parties. It is used as a symbol of peace and disputes or quarrels can be smoother over by its presentation.

Santiago Dotor, 13 January 1999

[This flag is currently] obsolete.

David Prothero, 16 January 2000

Znamierowski 1999 shows the lion with its feet on the crown, not above it. (...) The horn/gourd is shown in white.

Phil Nelson, 5 February 2000

Is there any heraldical difference?

Dirk Schönberger, 6 February 2000

Well, there is. From a heraldical point of view, the crest (here made up of a lion standing on a crown) is supposed to be displayed upon a knight's (here the king's, or rather queen's) helmet. And it is difficult to think of floating crest items, so these are usually shown in contact to one another. In actual fact, the English royal crest does show a lion passant guardant standing on, not above, the royal crown, as can be seen for instance at The British Monarchy official website [broken link] or at the World Flag Database. (...)

Santiago Dotor, 7 February 2000

Am I right that this flag was in use 1970-2000? Currently the Presidential flag takes the place, I guess. What about the governor-general's flag (or whatever was the title) before 1970?

Zeljko Heimer, 1 September 2001