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![[Marshall Islands]](../images/m/mh.gif)
10:19, by Zoltan Horvath, 7 July 2024
Neighbouring nations:
The flag was established by Bill No. 4 (P.L. 1979-1) of the Nirijela or Parliament, dated 12 June 1979, approved by the High Commissioner (Adrian P. Winkel) on 22 June 1979. Article One reads:
(1) DESIGN. The official Flag of the Marshall Islands shall be blue with two contiguous trapezoidal bars extending from the lower left of the Flag, diagonally across to the upper right of the Flag. The top bar shall be orange, and the bottom bar shall be white. The union of the Flag, in the upper left of the flag, shall be a white star of 24 points; the two points which are parallel to the hoist and the two points which are parallel to the fly shall be longer than the remaining 20 points. The points are 15 degrees apart. The union is located equidistant from the left edge, the top edge and the orange bar.Unfortunately however, the "official proportions" listed in Article Three do not give a distance between the upper and lower corners of the flag and the stripes, and give the width of the 'rays' at the fly as far wider than was obviously intended (from a rather poor illustration of the flag which accompanied the text but which was not included within the law itself). None the less, it reads as follows:
(3) PROPORTIONS. The following are the official proportions for all flags bearing the design of the official flag of the Marshall Islands:Christopher Southworth, 12 March 2004
Hoist of flag 1
Fly of flag 1.9
Outer union diameter, point to point .620
Inner union diameter, point to point .444
Diameter of inner circle of union .196
Width of white bar at left edge .16
Width of orange bar at left edge .16
Width of white bar at right edge .392
Width of orange bar at right edge .392
A blue flag with two rising stripes orange above white widening towards the fly
and with a 24-rayed white sun, with four main rays larger then others. The ratio is obviously based on the US flag ratio.
Album des Pavillons 2000 provides relative ratios along the fly edge from top to bottom
as (3+20+20+57):190. [That is wrong, according to the figures above.]
Variations of this flag (erroneous) occasionally show the stripes emerging from
the bottom hoist corner.
Željko Heimer, 13 June 2002
![[Marshall Islands Flag Construction]](../images/m/mh'.gif)
10:19, by Željko Heimer, 3 Maqy 2004
As Chris already pointed out, this description is missing two
important measures, and that is the size of the blue edge along hoist
below the white stripe, and size of the blue edge along fly above
orange stripe. There is no info on these sizes, but I believe that it
is reasonable to assume that the two are the same. Also, I make them
equal to the white and orange width at hoist, i.e. .16.
The dimensions given as .392 (Width of white/orange bar at right edge) just can't be right - if such they would cover
almost 80% of the fly edge, which is surely not as it was shown in
any image of this flag we ever seen. Most probably these figures were doubled (i.e. someone read the size
for both stripes, and the attached it to the one - not that unthinkable error),
so the correct figure should be .196. It should
be noticed that such figure is already used for an other element in
the flag (Diameter of inner circle of union), so the choice of that
size is making much more sense.
The union is stated (in the Decree) to be equidistant from the top
edge, hoist edge and the top edge of the orange stripe. This is most
conveniently shown as a circle concentric with the union tangent to
the three. (Using the units as above, that circle measures approximately .73.)
Željko Heimer, 3 May 2004
The protocol manual for the London 2012 Olympics (Flags
and Anthems Manual London 2012) provides recommendations for national flag
designs. Each NOC was sent an image of the flag, including the PMS shades, for
their approval by LOCOG. Once this was obtained, LOCOG produced a 60 x 90 cm
version of the flag for further approval. So, while these specs may not be the
official, government, version of each flag, they are certainly what the NOC
believed the flag to be. For Marshall Islands: PMS 287 blue, 152 yellow. The
vertical flag is simply the horizontal version turned 90 degrees clockwise.
Ian Sumner, 11 October 2012
DK Pocket Book has some differences in interpretation of the flag when compared with Lance Laack: - the star is said to represent also the geographical location of the archipelago, a few degrees above the Equator - the four longer points of the star stand for the major centers of Majuro, Ebeye, Jaluit and Wotje according to Lance, and for Majuro, Wotji, Jaluit and Kwajalein according to DK Pocket Book. According to Encyclopaedia Universalis, Marshall islands have 27 electoral districts, including 0 (for three of them, so that we come back to the 24 points of the star!) to 19,664 inhabitants for Majuro, the capital (followed by Kwajalein, 9,311 inh., Ailinglaplap, 1,715 inh., Jaluit, 1,709 inh. and Arno, 1,656 inh. Wotji has only 646 inh. - the stripes extend and widen upward as a sign of increase in growth and vitality.
DK Pocket Book adds that flag was adopted when Marshall islands became
a self-governing territory on 1 May 1979. The flag was designed by Emlain
Kabua, the President's wife, and was chosen among 50 designs.
Ivan Sache, 29 May 2000
Orange confirmed by Album des Pavillons, Dorling-Kindersely Pocket Book, Flagg
og Vapen (with caption: Marshalløyene - Selvstyrt, assosiert med USA)...
Ivan Sache, 29 May 2000
[The Bill establishing the flag clearly designates the colour as orange! Ed.]
Album 2000 also gives he colour approximation:
blue Pantone 287c CMYK 100-70-0-5
orange Pantone 152c CMYK 0-50-100-0
The Official Flag of the Marshall Islands Act 1979 defines the flag, but
doesn’t give color specification:
http://www.paclii.org/
About the colors, it regulates the following:
"The colors used in the design of the official flag of the Republic of the
Marshall Islands shall be of a hue authorized by Executive Order of the Cabinet,
based upon the color identification system of the United States Bureau of
Standards."
I haven’t found any Executive Order of the Cabinet on flag.
Zoltan Horvath, 7 July 2024
Other sources for colors:
The Flag Manual - Beijing 2008 gives Pantone
color: PMS 281 (blue), and PMS 178 (red).
The Album des Pavillons 2000 [pay00]
gives approximate colors in Pantone and CMYK systems:
Blue: Pantone 287c,
CMYK 100-70-0-5
Orange: Pantone 152c, CMYK 0-50-100-0
Flags and
Anthems Manual London 2012 [loc12] gives
Pantone colors: PMS 287 (blue), and PMS 152 (gold).
The Album des
Pavillons 2023 already specifies the colors of the flags in three color systems:
Blue: Pantone 287c, CMYK 100-83-7-0, RGB 0-53-152
Orange: Pantone 152c, CMYK
4-66-100-0, RGB 231-111-0
Vexilla Mundi gives colors in
Pantone system: PMS 287C (blue), PMS White, and PMS 152C (orange).
Wikipedia
refers to Official Flag of the Marshall Islands Act, provides a construction
sheet and gives color values as follows:
Dark Powder Blue: RGB 0-56-147, CMYK 1-0-0-42.3,
Hex #003893
Fulvous: RGB 221-117-0, CMYK 0-47-100-13.3, Hex #DD7500
White: RGB 255-255-255,
CMYK 0-0-0-0, Hex #FFFFFF
Flag Color Codes gives the following color
values:
Blue: Hex #003087, RGB 0-48-135, CMYK 100-81-0-23, Pantone 287, RAL
5010
White: Hex #FFFFFF, RGB 255-255-255, CMYK 0-0-0-0
Gold: Hex #E57200,
RGB 229-114-0, CMYK 0-61-100-0, Pantone
152, RAL 2000
Zoltan Horvath, 7 July 2024
![[Marshall Islands]](../images/m/mh).gif)
image located by Zoltan Horvath, 7 July 2024
The official description of the seal:
"The outstanding feature of the
Seal is the stylized Angel of Peace centered with outstretched wings. Around the
Angel, from the top and moving clockwise: 24 point star representing the 24
municipalities of the Republic; the four longer rays represent the 4 subcenters
of Majuro (the capital), Jaluit, Wotje, and Kwajalein Atolls. On either side of
the star are the rays which are on the flag. Each ray is of two colors, one,
orange representing bravery, and the other, white representing peace. The
two-colored rays also represent the two chains of atolls, the Ratak (sunrise)
and the Ralik (sunset). Next is a stylized fishing net, fish being the main
staple of the diet of the Marshallese people. A stylized sailing canoe,
outrigger type, sails on the ocean (covering the bottom 1/3 of the seal). Under
the stick chart is the word “SEAL”. An island with stylized palm trees (coconut)
is next. All of the Marshall Islands are low lying atolls. Above the right wing
of the Angel is a “pounder”, made out of a giant clam shell, and treasured by
every family that owns one. This pounder is used to pound pandanus leaves, which
are used for making mats, sails, and, traditionally, clothing. Around the outer
edge are the words “Republic of the Marshall Islands” and at the bottom,
"Jepilpilin ke ejukaan". The rim of the seal is a link chain representing that
the islands are all linked together, half of the chain representing the Ralik
group and the other half the Ratak."
Source: Republic Of The Marshall
Islands Seal Act Of 1992
https://rmiparliament.org/cms/images/LEGISLATION/PRINCIPAL/1992/1992-0030/RepublicoftheMarshallIslandsSealActof1992_1.pdf
Zoltan Horvath, 7 July 2024
![[Marshall Islands]](../images/m/mh)gov.gif)
image located by Zoltan Horvath, 7 July 2024
The Government website illustrates a slightly different version, a disc
background is light blue.
https://rmigov.com/
Zoltan Horvath, 7 July 2024
![[Marshall Islands]](../images/m/mh)79.gif)
image located by Zoltan Horvath, 7 July 2024
The previous version used between 1979 and 1986, had the same elements, but
they were placed in a dark blue disk.
Zoltan Horvath, 7 July 2024
