Fiji will hold a national competition to redesign the nation’s flag in an effort to shed several symbols of its colonial past, the island nation’s Prime Minister said on Tuesday.
The current flag includes a British Union Jack in the upper left-hand corner and a standard bearing stalks of sugar cane, a bundle of bananas, and a lion wearing a crown.
“What does this have to do with us,” asked Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama, according to Agence France-Presse. “The new flag should reflect Fiji’s position in the world today as a modern and truly independent nation state.”
The redesigned flag, he said, would be unveiled on Oct. 11, commemorating the 45th anniversary of the island nation’s independence from British rule.
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