flag of Tonga

When the Western concept of flags began to take hold in the Pacific region in the late 18th century, the independent kingdoms there frequently adopted red and white as their principal flag colours, although blue was also used. Perhaps not coincidentally, those three colours were featured in the flags of Britain, France, and the United States—the chief Western explorers and traders in the Pacific. The first national flag of Tonga, established in the 1840s, was typical of those designs. It had a background of white with a red or blue cross in each corner and the initials A and M in the centre, respectively in red and blue, to represent the king.

When King George Tupou I came to the throne, he relied heavily on an Englishman, Shirley W. Baker, for advice regarding a new flag, which was first hoisted in 1866 and codified in the constitution of November 4, 1875. Like the British Red Ensign, three-quarters of the flag was plain red and there was a distinctive canton in the upper hoist corner. Tonga chose a couped (shortened) cross of red as a symbol of the Christian religion, to which most of its people adhered; the colour was related specifically to the blood shed by Jesus at the Crucifixion. According to law, the national flag of Tonga may not be altered, although the country has adopted distinctive flags for its army and navy as well as a royal standard for its sovereign.