A red ornament in the shape of a crescent on white: the flag of Easter Island carries the reimiro, the wooden jewel of ancient Rapa Nui chiefs.
Every fact about the flag, each with what it means.
Normal flagFIAV symbol: the form of the flag.
CivilFIAV symbol: who may fly the flag.YesIt carries the coat of arms on the cloth.The flag in the words of vexillology and heraldry.
It is a rectangular field with a 5:8 ratio, white, with a red reimiro in the centre.
Each element and how many of the 1,390 flags in the catalogue carry it. In yellow, the rarest.
Every date in its story, at a glance.
Around 1880 they began to use a white one with the red reimiro
When the island became Chilean, in 1888, the official flag was that of Chile, and the reimiro…
After the 1993 Chilean Indigenous Peoples’ law
It is the flag of the Rapa Nui people and, since 2006, also that of the island, which belongs…
How it was born, how it has changed and what it means.
The flag of Easter Island, Rapa Nui in the language of the island, is white with a red figure in the shape of a crescent: the reimiro, a wooden ornament that chiefs wore on their chest. It is the flag of the Rapa Nui people and, since 2006, also that of the island, which belongs to Chile.
In the 19th century islanders were already flying flags of their own. Around 1880 they began to use a white one with the red reimiro. When the island became Chilean, in 1888, the official flag was that of Chile, and the reimiro one remained as a symbol of the Rapa Nui people.
After the 1993 Chilean Indigenous Peoples’ law, the authorities of the country recognised the reimiro emblem. On 9 May 2006 the flag was hoisted officially for the first time, alongside that of Chile, as the flag of the commune of Easter Island.
The island has had several flags, some very different.
1869-1876
That of the Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Dutrou-Bornier, who proclaimed himself king of the island: orange, with a tangata manu or bird-man.
1880-1888
After Dutrou-Bornier died, the Rapa Nui adopted the red reimiro on white, here with four bird-men in the corners.
1902
To welcome the Chilean training ship Baquedano, the islanders hoisted a Chilean flag with the colours inverted, a cross, the Sacred Hearts and two reimiros.
Until 2006
The official flag of the commune was white and gold, with the name of the town council.
2006
The reimiro on white becomes the official flag of the island on 9 May 2006.
Reimiro
a wooden ornament that chiefs and high-ranking people wore on their chest, as a sign of authority.
Red
the colour of mana, the sacred power in Polynesian cultures.
The two heads
they represent the ariki, the chiefs and nobles of the island.
Crescent
it may recall the moon, a symbol repeated all over Polynesia, though it is not confirmed.
Between 1869 and 1876 the French adventurer Jean-Baptiste Dutrou-Bornier took control of the island and declared himself its king, with an orange flag and a bird-man.
The flag the islanders hoisted in 1902 was taken to the museum of Valparaíso, in Chile. A fire destroyed it in 1906.
According to Flags of the World, on great occasions the supreme chief of the island wore two reimiros on his chest and two more on his shoulders.
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Test what you have read about the flag of Easter Island.
Text based on the article “Flag of Easter Island (Wikipedia en inglés)” from the Spanish Wikipedia, published under the licence CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sources consulted:
Flag image: Mario E. Fuente Cid, Done on Inkscape Free Software, Wikimedia Commons · Public domain.
