Fiji: flag, capital and map

Adopted on 10 October 1970, the day of independence, this flag reuses the structure of British colonial ensigns, with the Union Jack in the canton, but lightens the original navy blue to sky blue to stand apart from other Commonwealth nations and assert Fiji's identity as a maritime nation.

The shield, taken from the coat of arms granted in 1908, shows a British lion holding a cocoa pod above a St George's cross quartered with sugar cane, a coconut palm, a dove and a bunch of bananas.