Flag and coat of arms of Freice

Freice

Use	Civil and state flag, civil and state ensign
Proportion	1:2
Adopted	17 January 1970
Design	A light blue field with a rectangle on the upper hoist-side corner bearing the colours blue, green, orange, and white in vertical bars.
Designed by	De̩zȧ Tudɉe̩go and Toqư Eɉɨsta

The National Flag of the Country of Freice (Freician: Serɉeɱą ągrǡjɨl ġiḡurą pưƞqyǡ 'gi frɨs), often referred to simply as the flag of Freice and sometimes as the Blue and Bars (Ɨgo ol e̩siqɨǡ) was adopted in its current form by the provisional Freician legislature on 17 January 1970. The flag consists of a light blue field with a canton featuring four verticle stripes of stripes of blue, green, orange, and white.

The origins of the current flag can be traced to 1959, when a horizontal tricolour flag featuring the colours blue, green, and orange, and a white depiction of Freice, was first flown. The flag's creator remains unknown, but it was quickly adopted by Freician nationalists as a symbol of nationhood and sovereignty. In 1961, a new version of the flag was adopted that took the tricolour flag and added a fourth white band in place of the central island symbol. This design was the basis design that was incorporated into the current national flag.

History

Although a single Freician community has inhabited the island for centuries, there was no single flag used by the islanders prior to the mid-twentieth century. Historically, various banners of different colours were used to represent different groups, with a particular colour assigned to different classes of people. The most common colours were red, orange, white blue, and green. These historical banners formed the basis of the first flag, which incorporated the latter four colours, three of which were in the form of a horizontal triband.

This early flag was not widely adopted, limited only to a small group of nationalist activists. These political associations, which resulted in the flag being suppressed by the colonial government, led to the creation of a new flag. De̩zȧ Tudɉe̩go is credited as the creator of this flag, which took the colours featured in the previous flag and arranged them in a horizontal quadband. This flag was widely used as a symbol of Freician nationality rather than nationhood, and was recognised by the colonial government as a representative flag for the Freician people.

Upon independence in 1969, the Tudɉe̩go flag was adopted as the de facto national flag, widely used by both government and civil society but without any legal recognition. Opposition from non-Freician groups, particularly the Maricoenian community resident on the island, prevented the formal adoption of the flag in its existing form. Local artist Toqư Eɉɨsta, who's husband was Maricoenian, submitted a compromise design that incorporated the core elements of the flag, in the form of a verticle quadband in the canton of a light blue field. Eɉɨsta summarised the design as representing the Freician people as a 'cornerstone' but only 'one constituent part' of the Freician nation, with the light blue representing the ocean and the many communities that had travelled across it to settle on the island. The flag was formally adopted by the provisional Freician legislature on 17 January 1970.

Symbolism

The blue field, which continues the majority of the flag's design, embodies the Kaldaz Ocean that surrounds the island and dominates economic, social, and political life in the country. The colour blue was also chosen to symbolise tranquility and harmony, both between Freice and the ocean and between the different groups resident on the island. The canton references the Freician ethnic flag in use before the national flag's adoption, with alterations to the design to provide a symbolic separation between the flag of Freice and the flag of the Freicians.

Although the colours of the Freician flag relate to the traditional banners flown prior to colonisation, the colours featured in the flag's canton bear additional meanings:

• Blue represents the integrity of the Freician people and the truth that they embody.
• Green represents the renewal of the nation on its independence and the relative youth of the modern Freician state.
• Orange represents the warmth of the Freician land and of its people.
• White represents the purity and the goodness of Freice's aspirations within the international community.

(1970–present)	Light blue	Dark blue	Green	Orange	White
Hex	#79adc3	#4b6c7f	#3a523f	#f1a245	#ffffff
RGB	121, 173, 195	75, 108, 127	58, 82, 63	241, 162, 69	255, 255, 255
Pantone	2205c	2167c	7736c	142c	1c
CMYK	38, 11, 0, 24	41, 15, 0, 50	29, 0, 23, 68	0, 33, 71, 5	0, 0, 0, 0

Gallery

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  Flag of Freice (1959)

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  Flag of Freice (de facto; 1969-70)

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  Flag of Freice in the colours specified in the Law on the Creation of the National Flag of the Country of Freice.

External links

• Law on the Creation of the National Flag of the Country of Freice – Legislation formalising the adoption of the national flag.
• Flag Protocol – Department for Commissioning, Resources, and Performance.