SOLOMON ISLANDS, FLAG OF THE

national flag consisting of triangles of blue and green separated by a yellow diagonal stripe. In the upper hoist corner are five white stars. The flag has a width-to-length ratio of 1 to 2. The British protectorate that was established over the Solomon Islands in 1893 introduced typical British colonial flags. The Union Jack and British Red Ensign were the same as those used in the United Kingdom; the Blue Ensign had a badge featuring local symbols. The first badge had the name of the protectorate and the royal crown, whereas a new badge introduced in 1947 showed a stylized black-and-white sea turtle on a red background. The arms were changed in 1956 to a more complex design because the 1947 badge had emphasized a symbol associated only with one district of the islands. The new coat of arms was quartered and bore an eagle, turtle, lion, frigate bird, and various local weapons. In anticipation of independence many flag designs were submitted, including one with the coat of arms. Finally, a simple pattern was chosen and officially adopted on November 18, 1977, eight months before independence. The diagonal yellow stripe stands for the sun and divides the background into two triangles. The lower (green) triangle stands for the trees and crops of the fertile land. The upper (blue) triangle indicates the importance of water for the islandsrivers and rain as well as the surrounding ocean. The five white stars on the blue originally stood for the five districts (provinces) into which the country was divided, but the number of stars did not change when additional provinces were created. Whitney Smith History The Solomon Islands were initially settled by at least 2000 BCwell before the archaeological record beginsprobably by people of the Austronesian language group. Lapita pottery was in use in Santa Cruz and the Reef Islands about 1500 BC. Material radiocarbon dated to about 1000 BC has also been excavated at Vatuluma Cave (Guadalcanal), Anuta, Santa Ana, and Tikopia. The first European to reach the islands was the Spanish explorer lvaro de Mendaa de Neira, in 1568. Subsequently, unjustified rumours led to the belief that he had not only found gold there but had discovered where the biblical King Solomon obtained the gold for his temple in Jerusalem. The islands thus acquired the name Islas de Solomn. Later Spanish expeditions to the southwest Pacific, in 1595 and 1606, were unable to confirm the discoveries reported by Mendaa. Geographers came to doubt the existence of the group, and it was not until the late 18th century, after further sightings by French and English navigators, that the Solomons were accurately charted. After the settlement by the English of Sydney in 1788, naval and commercial shipping began increasingly to pass through the Solomons' waters. Roman Catholic missionaries failed to establish a settlement in the 1840s but did so in 1898. Anglican missionaries, who had been taking islanders to New Zealand for training since the 1850s, began to settle in the Solomons in the 1870s. Other missions arrived later. By the late 19th century the islands were being exploited for labour to work the plantations of Fiji and other islands and of Queensland, Australia. About 30,000 labourers were recruited between 1870 and 1910. To protect their own interests Germany and Britain divided the Solomons between them in 1886; but in 1899 Germany transferred the northern islands, except for Buka and Bougainville, to Britain (which already claimed the southern islands) in return for recognition of German claims in Western Samoa (now Samoa) and parts of Africa. The British Solomon Islands Protectorate was declared in 1893, partly in response to abuses associated with labour recruitment and partly to regulate contacts between islanders and European settlers, but mainly to forestall a threat of annexation by France. Colonial rule began in 1896. Although generally humane, administrators were more concerned with promoting the interests of European traders and planters than with those of the islanders, and islanders were punished harshly for offenses against colonial law and order. The murder of government tax collectors on Malaita in 1927 was answered with a savage punitive expedition, which was backed by an Australian warship. Together with some of his associates, Basiana, the leader of the assassins, was hanged, and his young sons were forced to witness the execution. With the outbreak of World War II in the Pacific, the Japanese began occupying the protectorate early in 1942, but their advance farther southward was stopped by U.S. forces, who invaded on August 7. Fighting in the Solomons over the next 15 months was some of the most bitter in the Pacific; the long struggle on Guadalcanal was the crucial battle of the Pacific war. Throughout the campaign the U.S. forces and their allies were strongly supported by the islanders. At the end of the war, because of the proximity of an airfield and the availability of flat land and of the military's buildings, Honiara on Guadalcanal became the new capital, replacing Tulagi. Another result of the war was to stimulate political consciousness among the islanders and so inspire a nationalist movement known as Maasina Rule, which lasted from 1944 to 1952. Subsequently, in response to the worldwide movement for decolonization, the Solomons set out on the path of constitutional development. The nation was formally renamed Solomon Islands in 1975, and independence was attained on July 7, 1978. Hugh Michael Laracy