Guam

The flag dates from 1917. I have seen two versions of it, one with a palm tree (if it is a palm) growing from the yellow peninsula in lower part of the shield, and other growing from the white background cliffs. I think the first one is right (it seems to me more logical, but ...).

The ratio of it is 21:40.
Željko Heimer, 20 February 1996

Crampton's Flags and COA, 1985 notes the flag was adopted in 1917 and accepted by the Guam congress in 1948 with the red border added in 1960. Barraclough's Flags of the World, 1969 shows the Guam flag without the red border surrounding the shield. When was the red border added or is the information on the red border totally wrong (did it have the border from the beginning)?
Nazomi Kariyasu, 20 April 1998

The red stripe surrounding the shield represents the blood shed by its people. A description of the Great Seal of Guam can be found on the Guam government site. In fact there is even a color photograph of the site represented on the flag.

It will be interesting to now see what may happen to the flag as there is a movement to eliminate colonization in Guam. One of the primary leaders is the territorial governor. This coincides with the 100th anniversary of the U.S. acquisition of Guam. I remember a similar movement when I was stationed there in the early 1990's, however this movement was to upgrade the status to a Commonwealth.
Gene Duque, 20 April 1998

It would appear that the red border around the seal has been on the Guam flag from its initial adoption. The National Geographic flag issue of September, 1934 at page 367 shows the Guam flag in its current form. The only apparent difference is the heartland which appears in green to conform with the seal, where most artistic renditions of the flag show the headland in white (apparently this was first published by Whitney Smith in his Flags of the States and Territories (1970)).

The headland is supposed to be gray. Early illustrations used a dark gray that appears green. Currently a light gray is used making it appear white.
Ralph Kelly,<

Guam

Territory of Guam, Guåhan

Flag of Guam