🇻🇺 The colours of Vanuatu

Vanuatu’s flag brings together green, red, black, and yellow. Green stands for the islands’ richness, red for the blood that unites all people, black for the Melanesian ni-Vanuatu, and yellow for Christianity and the islands’ shape. The flag’s symbols also reflect tradition and peace.

Where no official value is given, the swatch shows the colour family, not the exact shade.

• The flag was adopted on 18 February 1980.
• Green stands for the islands’ richness.
• The yellow Y-shape shows the islands’ pattern and Christianity.
• A boar’s tusk and namele leaves symbolise tradition and peace.
• Black represents the Melanesian ni-Vanuatu people.

The colours of the flag of Vanuatu

Vanuatu’s flag uses four main colours: green, red, black, and yellow. Green is said to represent the land’s richness, while red stands for the blood that links all people. Black is for the Melanesian ni-Vanuatu, the main ethnic group. The yellow Y-shape symbolises both the pattern of the islands on a map and the spread of Christianity, which is the faith of most people in Vanuatu. The black area also carries a boar’s tusk, a sign of tradition and prosperity, and two namele leaves, which are a symbol of peace and represent the first 39 members of Parliament.

How the colours were chosen of Vanuatu

The flag’s colours come from the Vanua'aku Pati, a political party whose flag, designed by Kalontas Malon in 1977, used almost the same palette and meanings. When the party led Vanuatu to independence in 1980, its colours were chosen for the new national flag. A committee selected the final design from local artists’ submissions, keeping the party’s symbolism. The yellow and black outlines were added at the request of the first Prime Minister to help the black stand out.

Official shades and rules of Vanuatu

There is no official colour specification published by the government. The flag’s proportions are 2:3, and the construction is based on an official image from the 1980 State Flag and Armorial Bearings Public Declaration.