Flag and coat of arms of Freice

Freice

Use	Civil and state flag, civil and state ensign
Proportion	1:2
Adopted	17 January 1972 (original) 5 October 2021 (Current version)
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	Desa Tuqei and Toqa Efame

The current flag of Freice is a flag consisting of a sky blue field charged with the traditional Kaldaic colours added to the canton. Adopted in its original form in January 1972 to replace the flag used by the colonial authorities, it was modified into its current form in 2021, with slight changes to the colours and dimensions.

The colours represent Freician culture and nationhood. The canton, featuring dark blue, dark green, gold, and white, represents the Kaldaic people, of which the Freicians are a part. The sky blue background represents the sky, but additionally represents trustworthiness in Kaldaic culture.

Description

The flag of Freice is a sky blue banner, with its width double that of its length. The colour represents the sky - recalling both the importance of the stars in navigation and the traditionally-held belief that all Freicians were "united under the sky blue". Additionally, the colour blue holds important symbolic meaning in Kaldaic culture, representing trustworthiness, honesty, and loyalty. In the charge are the four traditional Kaldaic colours - dark blue, dark green, gold, and white. These colours have long been associated with Kaldaic culture and have a number of different meanings based on the particular circumstances of their use. However, the colours are generally attributed the following meanings:

• dark blue: the importance of the sea in securing the necessities of life
• dark green: the natural environment and the symbiotic relationship between man and nature
• gold: the divinity of God and the presence of God in all people
• white: the peacefulness of the people and the purity of their intents

Until 2021, the Hex colour scheme was used. This scheme was established in the first law establishing the flag's design, but was largely superceded by a Pantone colour scheme, which was established in a 1981 law on flag use. However, the latter law did not explicitly amend the prior design, resulting in a situation in which two competing colour schemes were technically valid. In 2021, the government of Rarei Nemiesa, which took power in a coup d'état, formally recognised the Pantone scheme as the sole official design. This was reaffirmed in 2022 by the elected government of Aniara Neileka.

(1972/2021–present)	Light blue	Dark blue	Green	Orange	White
Hex	#89b2c4	#506d85	#385542	#F1be48	#ffffff
RGB	137, 178, 196	80, 109, 133	56, 85, 66	241, 190, 72	255, 255, 255
Pantone	2205c	2167c	7736c	142c	1c
CMYK	47, 14, 10, 1	70, 42, 21, 19	71, 30, 67, 52	0, 21, 77, 0	0, 0, 0, 0

History

Prior to colonisation, Freice had no widely used national flag. The Kaldaic colours, which now feature in Freice's flag, were used on a semi-official basis but had no formal representative role. On colonisation, the Riamese flag was adopted and was used alongside other colonies for the purpose of establishing Riamo's sovereignty. Freice had no separate flag until the mid 1800s, at which time the colonial ensign was adopted, featuring a red field and a golden strip in the hoist, charged with a crown. This, however, was not unique to the island and was adopted as a uniform symbol of colonial authority across the Riamese Empire.

It was not until 1902 that a unique Freician flag was adopted. The flag, which replaced the crown with a white disc in which is the name of the island surmounded by a crown, was briefly in use until the occupation of the island by Hoterallia in 1911. During this period, which lasted until 1931, two flags were used: the flag of the Supreme Authority (a yellow flag charged with a red phoenix) and the flag of the Elected Authority (a yellow flag with a blue-green-gold canton charged with the seal of the Supreme Authority). On the resumption of Riamese sovereignty, these two flags ceased to be used and were replaced with an updated colonial flag, this time bearing a separate Freician coat of arms.

This flag remained the official flag, alongside the Riamese flag, until 1972. In that year, a new flag was adopted, broadly inspired by the flag of the Elected Authority. It was formalised in the National Symbols Act 1972. Amendments were made in 1981, which were formalised in 2021.

Historical flags of Freice

Historical flag	Duration	Description
	until 1980	A golden cross on a burgundy field.
	1980-present	A horizontal tricolour of gold, blue, and red.
	Until 1902	A burgundy field with a golden bar on the hoist and a golden crown in the centre of the field.
	1902-1911	A burgundy field with a golden bar on the hoist and the word "FREICE" surmounted by the Vallyan Crown in a white disc in the centre of the field.
	1911-1931	A yellow banner bearing a red phoenix circled in red.
	1913-1931	A yellow ensign featuring a vertical tricolour of blue, green, and orange in the canton and the words "Hoterallian Mandate for the Governance of the Freice Island" in Hoterallian in the fly.
	1931-1972	A burgundy field with a golden bar on the hoist and the coat of arms of Freice in a white disc in the centre of the field.
	1969-1972 (de facto)	A horiztonal quadcolour of blue, green, orange, and white
	1972-2021	A sky blue ensign featuring a vertical quadcolour of blue, green, orange, and white.

See also

• National Badge of Freice

External links

• Visit Freice - National Flag
• Island Government - Flag Protocol