ROMSO Cyprus Knowledge Base

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The Wake Island flag, or simply the Wake flag, is the flag of the United States, a country with sovereignty over this minor island far from the United States of America in Oceania. Before the American presence, the cross of Burgundy, symbol of the Spanish empire that discovered the island, and the flag of Japan, which occupied the island during the Second World War, were used. There is an unofficial flag, created in 1976. Not officially adopted for the American bicentennial, it was mainly used to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Pearl Harbor's attack that marked the atoll during World War II. This flag resembles (by its V-shaped shape and its colours) that of the Philippines due to immigration from this Asian country at the time the flag was created. The Wake Island map is also on the flag.

Background

The atoll consisting of three islands, the main of which is Wake Island, was discovered by Europeans on 20 October 1568 by the Spanish; She was named San Francisco at the time. There is no documented human presence before the arrival of Europeans, although questions arise about the presence of the Polynesian rat. When the Spanish discovered the atoll, the flag representing the latter's attestation of the discovery of the atoll was that of the cross of Burgundy, used by the armies of the Spanish Empire. Finally, the atoll was not named San Francisco but Wake in tribute to English captain Samuel Wake in 1796.

Meanwhile, the atoll was no longer claimed, until 1840. In December of that year, an American expedition spotted the atoll that was described as sorry. However, the atoll is not annexed to the United States. It was on January 17, 1899 that the country of North America annexed this atoll, which at the same time adopted the American flag of the time.

After this period under American occupation, the atoll was during World War II, beginning on December 23, 1941, occupied by the Japanese Imperial Army, after American troops surrendered in position between December 8, the day after the Pearl Harbor attack, and December 23, 1941. The atoll was renamed Otori Jima (in Japanese: ) and displayed the flag of the Japanese Empire until September 4, 1945, when the Japanese on the atoll went to the American Navy two days after the signing of the Japanese Capitulation Acts. Since then, the atoll has officially displayed the American flag.

The unofficial flag was created for the bicentenary of the United States in 1976. Rarely used, even locally, the flag experienced its hour of glory on December 7, 2001 to celebrate the sixty years of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The flag cannot be officially adopted because the atoll is an unincorporated territory of the United States.

It is inscribed on a milk plate