Flag of Cook Islands
Oceania
Quick Facts
- Capital
- Avarua
- Flag adopted
- 1979
- Population
- 15,040
- Area
- 236 kmยฒ
- Languages
- English, Cook Islands Mฤori
- Currency
- Cook Islands dollar ($) โ CKD, New Zealand dollar ($) โ NZD
- Demonym
- Cook Islander
- Government
- parliamentary democracy
- Subregion
- Polynesia
- Driving side
- Left
- Timezones
- UTC-10:00
- Independence
- 1965
Religions
- Protestant 55%
- Roman Catholic 16.7%
- Unspecified 15.6%
- Other 4.5%
- Latter-day Saint 3.9%
- Jehovah's Witness 2.2%
- Apostolic Church 2.1%
Cook Islands is a dependent territory of New Zealand.
About This Flag
The flag of the Cook Islands is a British Blue Ensign โ a blue field with the Union Jack in the upper-hoist canton โ with fifteen white five-pointed stars arranged in a circle on the fly, one for each of the fifteen islands that make up the country. Adopted on August 4, 1979, it replaced a short-lived 1973โ1979 green flag that had also used fifteen stars.
What the colors & design mean
The Union Jack reflects the Cook Islands' historical ties to Britain and its continuing free association with New Zealand, which is itself a Commonwealth realm. The fifteen white stars arranged in a ring represent the fifteen islands of the Cook Islands united in equal circle, with no island placed above another.
Pattern: Canton Design, Complex Design
Fun Facts
- Between 1973 and 1979 the Cook Islands used a green flag with 15 gold stars arranged in an oval โ it was replaced after a change of government.
- The fifteen stars form a perfect circle to signal that no island is senior to another, a conscious design choice reflecting the country's decentralized geography.
- The Cook Islands is in free association with New Zealand โ New Zealand handles most foreign affairs and defense, but the Cook Islands maintains its own flag and passport equivalents.
- The flag's proportions and star layout are specified in the Cook Islands Flag Act and have not changed since 1979.
Similar looking flags
These flags share similar colors and patterns:
Other New Zealand Territories
More Oceania Flags
๐ฆ๐บ Australia · ๐ซ๐ฏ Fiji · ๐ฐ๐ฎ Kiribati · ๐ฒ๐ญ Marshall Islands · ๐ซ๐ฒ Micronesia · ๐ณ๐ท Nauru · ๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand · ๐ต๐ผ Palau
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