flag of Tonga

The British first arrived in Tonga in the late-18th century, when Captain James Cook made three visits to the islands between 1773 and 1777.{{cite news|title=Tonga profile|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-16199671|work=BBC News|publisher=BBC|access-date=10 August 2014}} Approximately fifty years later, English Wesleyan Methodist missionaries came to Tonga and began converting its people to Christianity.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EABPLrDovFAC&pg=PA15|title=Tonga|publisher=Lonely Planet|year=2001|last1=Fletcher|first1=Matt|last2=Keller|first2=Nancy|pages=14–15|access-date=10 August 2014|isbn=9781740590617}} In 1831, they succeeded in converting "paramount chief" Taufa'ahau Tupou, who became King George Tupou I in 1845. It was during this time (circa 1840s) that the first Tongan flag was adopted. It consisted of a white field with a cross (either red or blue in colour) at all four corners, and the letters "A" (in red) and "M" (in blue) at the centre that symbolise the king.{{cite encyclopedia|first=Whitney|last=Smith|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|title=Flag of Tonga|url=http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1355548/flag-of-Tonga|date=24 November 2013|access-date=9 August 2014|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.}} {{subscription required}}

Upon his accession to the throne, the king sought to design a new flag for the nation, one that would represent Christianity.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1yahq8im86kC&pg=PA235|title=Complete Flags of the World|publisher=Penguin|date=6 January 2009|last=Kindersley Ltd.|first=Dorling|page=235|access-date=9 August 2014|isbn=9780756654863}} He befriended Shirley Waldemar Baker – a member of the United Kingdom's Tongan mission who later became the Prime Minister of Tonga – and they worked together to formulate a new flag, coat of arms and national anthem for Tonga. According to Whitney Smith (Flags and Arms across the World, Maidenhead 1980) the chief designer was Prince Uelingatoni Ngu Tupoumalohi. The new design resembled the British Red Ensign, in that three-quarters of it consisted of a simple red field, with a "distinctive canton" featured in the upper hoist section; this was first used in 1866. A new constitution for the kingdom was formulated and proclaimed on 4 November 1875. It codified the new flag design, and marks when it was adopted as the national flag. Under Article 47 of the Constitution, the flag can "never be altered" and "shall always be the flag" of Tonga.{{cite book|last=Peaslee|first=Amos J.|year=1985|chapter=Tonga|title=Constitutions of Nations|page=1577|doi=10.1007/978-94-017-1147-0_13|isbn=978-90-247-2905-0}} {{registration required}}

The colours and symbols of the flag carry cultural, political, and regional meanings. The red couped cross alludes to Christianity, the religion practised by approximately 97% of the country's population.{{cite web|title=Tonga|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/tonga/|access-date=9 August 2014|work=The World Factbook|publisher=CIA}} It is one of 28 national flags to contain overtly Christian symbols.{{cite web |url=https://www.brandingthenations.com/blog/flagsforgodssake |title=Flags, for God's Sake |last1=Green |first1=Michael |date=20 March 2015 |website=brandingthenations.com |access-date=3 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200203234625/https://www.brandingthenations.com/blog/flagsforgodssake |archive-date=3 February 2020 |url-status=live }} The white epitomizes purity, while the red evokes the sacrifice of the Blood of Christ, which was shed during the Crucifixion.

File:Flag of Tonga (construction sheet).svg

The previous design of the flag featured a plain white field charged with the red couped cross. However, it was later discovered that this flag was almost identical to the emblem of the International Red Cross, which had been adopted in 1863. As a result of this finding, the Tongan flag was set at the canton of a red field instead, leading to the present design of the flag. The previous design, nonetheless, remains a national symbol of Tonga. The current flag of Tonga also has some similarities with the flags of Switzerland and Georgia.

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|Flag of the Tonga Defence Services.svg|Flag of the Tonga Defence Services

|Customs Ensign of Tonga.svg|Customs Service Ensign

|Quarantine Ensign of Tonga.svg|Quarantine Ensign

|Pilot Flag of Tonga.svg|Pilot flag, which is similar to the Polish flag

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{{gallery|mode=nolines|whitebg=y|height=100|align=center

|Flag of Tongatapu (1858-1862).svg|{{FIAV|historical}} Tongatapu (1845–1862)

|Flag of Tonga (1862-1866).svg|{{FIAV|historical}} Tonga (1862–1866)

|Royal Standard of Tonga (1862-1875).svg|{{FIAV|historical}} Royal Standard of Tonga (1862–1875), similar to the Reichskriegsflagge

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• Flag of the Red Cross
• Flag of Switzerland

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{{Commons category|Flags of Tonga}}

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{{Oceania topic|Flag of|title=Flags of Oceania}}

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Category:1875 introductions

Category:1875 establishments in Tonga

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Category:National flags

Category:Red and white flags

Category:Flags with crosses

Tonga