Palmyra Atoll (U.S. Minor Outlying Islands)

ISO Code: UM-95
ISO 3166-3 Code: PUUM
FIPS 10-4 Code: LQ
MARC Code: up
IOC Code: Not Applicable
Status: unincorporated territory of the United States

I recently contacted the Nature Conservancy (the new caretakers of Palmyra Atoll) to see if they would consider making [the flag used by U.S. sailors during World War II] the unofficial flag of the atoll--giving some respect to the men who gave up so much for our freedom and who left the atoll slightly changed but pretty much the way it is today.

I received a letter from the regional director of the Nature Conservancy. She gave me permission to use the extinct Palmyra flag for our state and territorial flag display at the USS Arizona Memorial on December 7, 2001, the 60th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor Attack. Palmyra has agreed to fly the "GI flag" on an unofficial basis.

The Palmyra design was slightly altered to meet reality. The original design and color were pretty much kept; however the red sky was enlarged and the yellow beach was reduced. The sun was "lifted" out of the water. The Nature Conservancy has no intention of making this flag the official banner for the territory, but they allowed us to manufacture it for the December 7th exercises.
Skip Wheeler, 10 August 2001, 22 August 2001, 25 December 2001

My grandfather was stationed on Palmyra during World War II and I have a black and white picture of him and a few of his buddies in front of the flagpole. On top is the 48-star US flag, and under that is a flag I didn't recognize. I asked my grandfather, and he said it was not a naval flag or the flag of his unit. Our conclusion is that it must be the flag of Palmyra, probably invented by the sailors there at the time. My grandfather remembers the colors, and there is no coat of arms or anything on it. It is just a collection of shapes. As far as I can tell from the picture and a ruler, it is a 2:3 flag. I can't be sure of that, because it is not being fully wind-blown in the picture. I also can not guarantee that the flag I make will be perfectly accurate. There are parts of it I can't see, but it's mostly bars anyway, with one half-circl