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# Naoero Historical Flags

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Last modified: 2026-08-15 by ian macdonald
Keywords: naoero | nauru |
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- Distinguishing flag
- Customs Flag 1921-1968

See also:

- Nauru

## Distinguishing flag

image by Olivier Touzeau, 3 January 2016

A proposed Nauru 'Distinguishing Flag' is described at http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=103031. This file contains a flag design presented by the Chiefs of Nauru in 1924 that was not brought into use. It was a white flag with a blue canton in which were fifteen five-pointed white stars in three rows of five. The first star was larger than the other fourteen and represented the Mandatory authority (presumably Australia), the other fourteen represented the local districts into which the island was divided.
Jeff Thomson, 23 November 2015

Jeff is correct to say that this flag was a proposed 'distinguishing flag' for Nauru, but I for one find the whole of the story presented in that NAA file interesting:
The flag was submitted by the Chiefs of Nauru as a proposed national flag for Nauru. The Australian Administrator objected to this, and instead proposed that it be a "distinguishing" flag (2 Dec 1924). The reply from Melbourne (2 Jun 1925) was that it could not be given any official recognition even as a "distinguishing flag", because it would tend to be seen as a national flag, but that the government was seeking details on flag use in other mandates.
The reply from London (27 Aug 1925) gave details of the approval of a badge for Western Samoa for use in the usual British pattern (on blue and red ensigns, and on the Union Jack for the Administrator), and suggested that the Australian government could submit a Nauru badge, to be used the same way, with unofficial leeway being given to its use by the Chiefs. A note in March 1926 says that the Administrator (Gen. Thomas Griffiths) thought the Chiefs would approve of this, and that he planned to submit a badge in the future. If he did so, I know nothing about it.
Jonathan Dixon, 23 February 2016