Flag of Papua New Guinea

Meaning and history of the flag of Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea's flag is divided diagonally from the upper hoist-side corner to the lower fly-side corner. The upper half is red and features a raggiana bird-of-paradise (Paradisaea raggiana) in flight, rendered in golden yellow. The lower half is black and displays the Southern Cross constellation, formed by five white stars of varying sizes.

The design was created in 1971 by Susan Karike, a fifteen-year-old student who won a national competition, and it was officially adopted on July 1, 1971, ahead of independence in 1975. Red and black are traditional colors found in the art and decoration of many Papuan cultures. The bird-of-paradise is the national bird and symbolizes the country's unity, freedom, and emergence as an independent nation. The Southern Cross marks the country's location in the Southern Hemisphere, a feature it shares with the flags of Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, and Samoa.

You can view the flag of Papua New Guinea in high resolution above and download it in several sizes for personal, educational or reference use. To explore more, visit the full Papua New Guinea profile, its map, or the current local time in Port Moresby.