Flag of Marshall Islands
Oceania
Quick Facts
- Capital
- Majuro
- Flag adopted
- 1979
- Population
- 42,418
- Area
- 181 km²
- Languages
- English, Marshallese
- Currency
- United States dollar ($) — USD
- Demonym
- Marshallese
- Government
- mixed presidential-parliamentary system in free association with the US
- Subregion
- Micronesia
- Driving side
- Right
- Timezones
- UTC+12:00
- Independence
- 1986
Religions
- Protestant 79.3%
- Roman Catholic 9.3%
- Latter-day Saint 5.7%
- Other 3.3%
- Jehovah's Witness 1.3%
- None 1.1%
About This Flag
The flag of the Marshall Islands features a dark blue field with two diagonal stripes — orange on top and white below — radiating from the lower hoist corner to the upper fly corner, widening as they extend. In the upper-left area sits a large white four-pointed star with elongated points.
The blue represents the Pacific Ocean. The orange stripe symbolizes the Ralik (sunset) chain of atolls, and the white stripe represents the Ratak (sunrise) chain — the two parallel chains that make up the Marshall Islands.
The four-pointed star has 24 points total (four long and 20 short), with the four long rays representing the four main population centers of Majuro, Jaluit, Wotje, and Ebeye. The flag was adopted on May 1, 1979.
What the colors & design mean
Blue represents the Pacific Ocean. The orange band represents the Ralik (sunset) island chain. The white band represents the Ratak (sunrise) island chain. The star's four long points represent the four major population centers, and the 20 short points represent the municipality districts.
Pattern: Diagonal Design
Fun Facts
- The Marshall Islands' two island chains are named Ralik ('sunset'/western) and Ratak ('sunrise'/eastern), and the two diagonal stripes directly correspond to these parallel chains.
- Bikini Atoll, part of the Marshall Islands, was the site of 23 U.S. nuclear weapons tests between 1946 and 1958, and the modern bikini swimsuit was named after the atoll due to the 'explosive' impact of the garment.
- The Marshall Islands is one of the most nuclear-impacted places on Earth — the total yield of all tests conducted there was equivalent to 1.6 Hiroshima-sized bombs detonated daily for 12 years.
- Despite having a land area of only 181 square kilometers, the Marshall Islands controls one of the largest exclusive economic zones in the Pacific, spanning over 1.9 million square kilometers of ocean.
Similar looking flags
These flags share similar colors and patterns:
More Oceania Flags
🇦🇺 Australia · 🇫🇯 Fiji · 🇰🇮 Kiribati · 🇫🇲 Micronesia · 🇳🇷 Nauru · 🇳🇿 New Zealand · 🇵🇼 Palau · 🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea
Explore by Category
Test Your Knowledge!
Think you can identify the flag of Marshall Islands?
Play Flag Quiz