British Fiji Islands 1874-1970 (Fiji) (original) (raw)

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Last modified: 2007-10-28 by ian macdonald
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• Introduction
• Flags 1877-1883
• Flags 1883-1908
• Flags 1908-1924
• Flags 1924-1970

See also:

• Western Pacific High Commissioner 1877-1976
• Historical Flags (Fiji)
• Colonies of the United Kingdom

Introduction

The sequence of Fiji badges was:

• 1877: Circular badge of foliage and crossed war-clubs with a superimposed shield bearing a mermaid looking at herself in a hand mirror.
• 1882: The Colonial Office wrote to the Admiralty that M. des Volux had complained about the device for the badge of the colony and suggested a simpler one. Apparently it was thought that it had been based on the Public Seal, but was actually the Seal of the Supreme Court of Fiji.
• 1883: Admiralty approved, "as the badge for the colony and the device for its flag", a white disc with the word FIJI beneath the crest of the Royal Arms (crown surmounted by lion). This, at the time, was similar to the badge of British Columbia which was the crest of the Royal Arms between the letters B C.
• 1908: Arms granted on 4th July on a white disc.
• 1924: A letter dated 8th May informed the Colonial Office that instructions to remove the white circle had been issued by the governor. (ADM 116/1847B). Admiralty Flag Book 1930, plate 35; under Fiji, notes that there is no white circle.
• 1970: Current flags. A date in Dorling Kindersley 1997 is wrong. Fiji became part of the British Empire in 1874 not 1784.
  David Prothero, 22 December 1999 and 24 October 2002