Flag of Samoa
Oceania
Quick Facts
- Capital
- Apia
- Flag adopted
- 1949
- Population
- 205,557
- Area
- 2,842 km²
- Languages
- English, Samoan
- Currency
- Samoan tālā (T) — WST
- Demonym
- Samoan
- Government
- parliamentary republic
- Subregion
- Polynesia
- Driving side
- Left
- Timezones
- UTC+13:00
- Independence
- 1962
Religions
- Protestant 58.5%
- Roman Catholic 18.8%
- Latter-day Saint 16.9%
- Other 2.9%
- Worship Centre 2.8%
- None 0.2%
About This Flag
The flag of Samoa features a red field with a blue canton in the upper-left corner bearing the Southern Cross constellation depicted as five white five-pointed stars. The red represents courage, the blue symbolizes freedom, and the white stars represent purity and nature.
The Southern Cross connects Samoa to the wider South Pacific region. Samoa originally had only four stars on its flag when it gained independence as the first Pacific island nation to achieve sovereignty in the 20th century.
A fifth, smaller star was added on July 24, 1949, to more accurately represent the constellation. Samoa gained independence from New Zealand on January 1, 1962.
What the colors & design mean
Red represents courage and bravery. Blue symbolizes freedom and the Pacific Ocean. The five white stars of the Southern Cross represent the geographic position of Samoa in the South Pacific and symbolize purity.
Pattern: Canton Design
Fun Facts
- Samoa was the first Pacific island nation to gain independence in the 20th century, achieving sovereignty from New Zealand on January 1, 1962.
- The flag originally had four stars when first adopted in 1948; the fifth smaller star was added in 1949 to accurately depict the Southern Cross constellation.
- In 2011, Samoa crossed the International Date Line, jumping from being one of the last countries to see each day's sunrise to one of the first — skipping December 30 entirely.
- Samoa was formerly known as Western Samoa (to distinguish it from American Samoa), but officially dropped 'Western' from its name in 1997.
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