Flag of Guam
flag of Guam U.S. territorial flag consisting of a dark blue field (background) bordered in red and bearing at its centre a red-bordered ellipse containing a brown boat with a white sail on a dark blue sea, a light blue sky, a gray cliff in the background, and yellow sand in the foreground with a coconut palm in brown and green. The flag’s width-to-length ratio is 22 to 41.

The Chamorros, the original inhabitants of Guam, did not use flags, nor was any Guamanian flag created while Guam was ruled by Spain (1521–1898). Guam came under U.S. administration following the Spanish-American War of 1898 and was formally given territorial status in 1950. The U.S. entry into World War I inspired Helen L. Paul, the wife of a U.S. naval officer stationed in Guam, to design a territorial flag. It resembled many U.S. state flags in that it had an emblem (also created by Paul) centred on a blue field. The emblem’s shape resembles the slingshot stones once used by the Chamorros for hunting and sport. The scene shows the Hagåtña (Agana) River mouth with a coconut palm in the foreground. Two Lovers’ Leap, the cliff in the background, recalls a traditional story. A form of outrigger canoe formerly in use completes the design.

This flag was officially adopted by the territorial government on July 4, 1917, and was reconfirmed on May 12, 1931. Japanese forces occupied Guam for nearly three years during World War II. In commemoration of the hardships endured during that period, a red border was added to the flag on February 9, 1948.

Whitney Smith

Chamorro, Indigenous people of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. The ancestors of the Chamorro are thought to have come to the Mariana Islands from insular Southeast Asia (Indonesia and the Philippines) about 1600 bce. It is estimated that in the early 17th century there were between 50,000 and 100,000 Chamorro in the Marianas, but the disease and violence wrought by the Spanish reduced the Chamorro population to about 1,000 by 1820. During this period the Spanish eliminated the Chamorro on Saipan and relocated the Chamorro from across the Marianas to Guam. In the early 2020s nearly 160,000 Americans claimed Chamorro descent. The Chamorro language, which is spoken by more than 61,000 people, is not a Micronesian dialect but a distinct language with its own vocabulary and grammar. It is still used in many homes on Guam, though English is the island’s official language. The Chamorro are predominately Roman Catholic.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Teagan Wolter.