Flag of Palau
| Flag | Palau (PW) |
|---|---|
| Type | National flag (national, civil, state) |
| Proportion | 5:8 (5:8) |
| Primary colors | light blue, yellow |
| Main symbol | disc |
| Arrangement | centered centered emblem |
| Official adoption | 1981-01-01 — Adopted upon the establishment of constitutional self-government by the Olbiil Era Kelulau |
| Region | Micronesia |
Plain-language visual description
Palau's national flag shows a golden-yellow full disc offset slightly toward the hoist on a bright sky-blue rectangular field in a 5:8 proportion.
Construction and geometry
Proportion & symmetry: The Flag of Palau uses a statutory 5:8 height-to-width ratio on a rectangular field with horizontal mirror symmetry. Width-to-length ratio 5:8; golden disc diameter is 3/5 of hoist height, offset slightly toward the hoist (7/16 of length).
- The official width-to-length ratio is 5:8 (100:160). The diameter of the golden disc is 3/5 of the hoist height, and its center is positioned 7/16 of the flag's length from the hoist edge.
Official colors and specification system
Rather than manufacturing false RGB precision where a statute specifies dyed cloth, Pantone, Munsell, or CIE coordinates, the table below records the governing color system alongside a calibrated display hex approximation.
| Color | Official shade name | Specification system | Statutory / standard code | Display hex |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| light blue | Ocean Blue | statute-named | Named in statute | #0099FF |
| yellow | Golden Yellow (Full Moon) | statute-named | Named in statute | #FFFF00 |
Meaning and symbolism
Documented symbolism
In Palauan statutory and governmental explanations, the golden-yellow disc represents the full moon rather than the sun—reflecting traditional Palauan reckoning in which the full moon is the optimal time for fishing, planting, harvesting, and community celebrations—while the blue field signifies the surrounding Pacific Ocean and the transition from foreign trusteeship to self-determination.
Common interpretations
Because its layout mirrors the flags of Japan and Bangladesh, casual observers often assume the yellow circle represents the sun or derives directly from pre-war Japanese administration in Micronesia; designer John Blau Skebong explicitly rejected that connection and identified the disc as the full moon.
History and design evolution
Following World War II, Palau was administered by the United States as part of the United Nations Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, flying the light-blue six-star Trust Territory banner alongside the Stars and Stripes. As Palau drafted its own constitution and prepared for self-government in 1979, a national Flag Commission organized a public design competition that drew more than seventy submissions from Palauan citizens and students across the archipelago.
The commission selected the entry submitted by John Blau Skebong, which distilled Palauan island identity into a luminous golden full moon over an ocean-blue expanse, deliberately avoiding foreign colonial emblems. The Olbiil Era Kelulau (Palau National Congress) enacted the design by statute in October 1980.
The flag was officially raised on 1 January 1981 when the Republic of Palau established constitutional self-government, and it remained the sovereign national flag when Palau entered into its Compact of Free Association as an independent nation on 1 October 1994.
Key historical milestones
- 1979National flag competition: John Blau Skebong's full-moon-over-ocean design is chosen from over seventy entries.
- 1981Official adoption: Raised on 1 January 1981 upon the inauguration of Palau's constitutional government.
- 1994Full sovereignty: Retained unchanged when Palau becomes a fully independent sovereign republic in October 1994.
Frequently confused with
The Flag of Palau is commonly confused with the following national flags due to shared colors, stripe geometry, or central emblems:
Visually and structurally similar flags
Ranked deterministically across layout family (35%), color overlap and stripe order (25%), symbols (20%), aspect ratio (10%), and stripe/symmetry geometry (10%):
Sources and image-rights provenance
- Republic of Palau National Government — Flag of Palau
- Whitney Smith, Flags Through the Ages and Across the World — Pacific Trusteeship & Palau — Smith, W. (1975/2001). Flag Lore of All Nations, Millbrook Press.
SVG artwork provenance: Constructed from statutory specifications (public-domain-statute, verified 2026-10-13, SHA-256 788600964fbc…).