User:Vanilla Wizard/Kanak flag

The Kanak flag is one of two flags representing New Caledonia, and serves to represent the indigenous Kanak people. Originally used as a symbol of the FLNKS party, it flies alongside the French flag. It was approved to fly from flagpoles after a vouex took place in the Congress of New Caledonia. The French and Kanak flags flying together represents the unity of New Caledonia. The flag has been the subject of controversy, and the flag debate has continued, with some continued support for a proposal to create a new single flag for the island, which would represent both the French and Kanak peoples.

Design and symbolism
First adopted by the FLNKS party in 1980, the Kanak flag is composed of three horizontal stripes of blue (Pantone 286c), red (Pantone 032c) and green (Pantone 347c) charged with a yellow (Pantone 102c) disc of a diameter two-thirds the height of the flag centered at a position of one-third the width of the flag, measured from the hoist side. The disc is fibrated black and defaced with a vertical symbol, also black.

The blue symbolizes both the sky and more importantly the ocean surrounding New Caledonia. The red symbolizes the blood shed by the Kanaks in their struggle for independence, socialism, and unity. The green symbolizes the land itself and by extension the ancestors buried within it. The yellow disc is a representation of the sun and the symbol upon it consists of a flèche faitière, a kind of arrow that adorns the roofs of Kanak houses thrust through tutut shells.

History
Up to 2010, the only flag used to represent New Caledonia, an overseas territory of France, was the flag of France, a tricolor featuring three vertical bands coloured blue (hoist side), white, and red known to English speakers as the French Tricolour or simply the Tricolour. However, in July 2010 the Congress of New Caledonia voted in favour of a wish to fly the Kanak flag alongside the French tricolor.

In 2008 the government of New Caledonia debated the introduction of an official regional flag and anthem, as required by the Accord de Nouméa. A flag in fairly widespread unofficial use was the flag of the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS), a political party favoring independence for New Caledonia, but the French tricolor would remain the only flag used for the next two years.

In July 2010 the Congress of New Caledonia voted in favour of a wish to fly the Kanak flag alongside the French tricolor in the territory. On 17 July 2010, French Prime minister François Fillon took part in a ceremony in Nouméa where the FLNKS flag was hoisted alongside the French tricolor.

However, the debate on finding a permanent official regional flag continued.

The adoption of the Kanak flag proved controversial. Some New Caledonians argued for a completely new flag for New Caledonia, which would incorporate designs from both the French tricolor and the Kanak flags. Such new flag would aim to promote a "common destiny" for ethnic Kanaks and ethnic French residents in New Caledonia.

Provincial flags
New Caledonia is divided into three provinces, each with its own flag.