Northern Mariana Islands

flag of Northern Mariana Islands
U.S. territory since November 4, 1986

Until the early 1970s, the Flag of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands flew over the Northern Mariana Islands (NMI).

In 1972, the Third Marianas Legislature held a flag design contest for Marianas schools. The winning submission was designed by Rotanese student Vito Calvo and featured a latte stone and star on a field of blue.

The flag was not officially adopted until July, 4 1976.

In 1981, the flag was modified and the mwáár (traditional flower wreath) was added. This version of the flag was officially adopted in July, 1985.

Composition

The NMI flag features a field of ocean blue.

Centered, a white five-pointed star is superimposed on a gray latte stone. Surrounding both is a traditional Carolinian mwáár.

In the 2001 North American Vexillological Association (NAVA) flag survey of United States and Canada flags, the flag of Northern Mariana Islands was ranked 41st out of 72.

flag of Northern Mariana Islands

Iconography

  • a circular wreath of flowers

    mwáár

    Carolinian tradition, honor, respect

    Note: The flowers of the mwáár are langilang (ylang-ylang), flores mayo (seyúr), angagha (peacock flower), and teibwo (Pacific basil).

  • a stone column capped by a smaller stone

    latte stone

    Chamorro tradition, Taga the Great, ingenuity

    Note: A latte stone was a support for ancient houses, made of a column (halagi) topped by a capstone (tasa). Their origins are told in the legend of Taga the Great.

  • a star

    star

    protection from intruders, the United States

Colors

The NMI flag features “ocean blue” and “traditional colors” for the flowers in the mwáár.

NMI statute does not provide Cable or Pantone values for the colors of the flag.The hex values here are approximations.
Ocean Blue
#0071bc
White
#ffffff
Gray
#8c8a8c
Red
#de2010
Green
#217900
Yellow
#ffd200
Violet
#6b18b5
Black
#000000

Construction

NMI statute specifies the proportion for the flag’s visual elements in inches.

While the flag can be produced with different proportions, they provide an example with a hoist of 40 inches and a fly of 78 inches.

Within this proportion, the latte stone and star should be 16 inches wide and 24 inches tall. The mwáár wreath should be 6 inches wide.

construction sheet for the flag of Northern Mariana Islands

Previous iterations

  • a field of light blue charged with a ring of six white stars

    1965-1972

    Flag of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. The six stars represent the Marianas, the Marshall Islands, Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei (including Kosrae), and Palau.

  • a field of blue charged with a latte stone superimposed with a white star

    1972–1981

    Vito Calvo’s winning design.

  • the current flag

    1981–Present

    Current version with added mwáár.

Sources