NAURU, FLAG OF

national flag consisting of a blue field with a single horizontal yellow stripe and a white star in the lower hoist corner. The flag's width-to-length ratio is 1 to 2. None of the colonial flags flown by the German, British, or Australian rulers of the island were appropriate for the Republic of Nauru when it became independent on January 31, 1968. The new flag design, which was chosen in a local competition and put in final graphic form by an Australian flag manufacturer, makes a clear statement about the island. The background is blue for the Pacific Ocean, and the yellow horizontal stripe stands for the Equator, which lies less than one degree north of Nauru. The location of the island is reflected by the white star located below the stripe, contrary to normal flag design principles; its position near the hoist corresponds to the fact that Nauru is on the western side of the international date line. The star has been a symbol of independence and sovereignty since the United States adopted the Stars and Stripes as its flag in 1777. Overwhelmingly, such stars have been regular pentagrams. The 12 points on the Nauru star, however, refer to the original tribes of Nauru, thus giving two separate but related meanings to the emblem. The colours of the flag are similar to those of other Pacific nations and thus show regional solidarity. Whitney Smith History When and from where the first inhabitants of Nauru reached the island remain unknown. A long period of relative isolation is believed to account for the distinctiveness of the indigenous language. By the time of the arrival of Europeans in the early 18th century, Nauruan society consisted of 12 matrilineal kinship groups, each having a chief. An English sailing vessel sighted the island in 1798, but extensive contact with Europeans did not begin until the 1830s, when the whaling industry penetrated eastern Micronesia, and Nauru became a port of call for vessels in search of food and water supplies. Shortly thereafter, a small number of European beachcombers settled on the island, bringing with them alcohol, firearms, and foreign diseases. Intraisland warfare among competing districts escalated, becoming particularly intense in the 1880s. Encouraged by a few German traders concerned about their own interests on the island, Germany incorporated Nauru into its Marshall Islands protectorate in late 1888. The German administration and the arrival of the missionaries shortly thereafter brought an end to armed hostilities. In 1906 the Pacific Phosphate Company, a British concern, negotiated an agreement with the German administration to begin the mining of Nauru's phosphate deposits, and the operation began the following year. With the onset of World War I, a small Australian force occupied Nauru and removed most German nationals. In 1920 Nauru became a mandated territory within the framework of the League of Nations. Australia, Britain, and New Zealand were named as the responsible authorities, but in actual practice the administration remained in Australian hands. The phosphate industry was taken over by the newly formed British Phosphate Commission, a joint Australian, British, and New Zealand enterprise. World War II brought another occupier when Japanese forces arrived in August 1942. In the following year, 1,200 Nauruans were taken to Truk (now Chuuk) to serve as forced labourers on Japanese military installations there. A Japanese airstrip on Nauru became the target of American bombers, and the island suffered air attacks for the next two years. In September 1945, Australian troops again took possession of Nauru. On Jan. 31, 1946, with their numbers depleted by almost 500, 737 Nauruans were returned home. In November 1947, Nauru became a United Nations trust, an arrangement paralleling the former League of Nations mandate. The same three metropolitan powers were the responsible authorities, but Australia continued to provide the actual administration. A series of developments in the 1950s and particularly in the early 1960s led to self-government and eventually political independence and ownership of the phosphate industry. In October 1967 an agreement granting Nauruan independence was concluded. Jan. 31, 1968, the 22nd anniversary of the return of Nauruans from Truk, was chosen as Independence Day for the Republic of Nauru. Political parties are of lesser importance than personalities in Nauruan politics. One man, Hammer DeRoburt, has dominated the political scene, serving as president for most of the period since independence. Robert C. Kiste