Micronesia

ISO Code: FM FSM 583
FIPS 10-4 Code: FM
MARC Code: fm
IOC Code: FSM

Micronesia includes several small islands in the western Pacific. The flag has been in use since 1962, but has varied depending on the number of islands in the federation. The federation has included the following islands/island groups since 1962:
1962-65: Marianas, Carolines, Marshall Islands and Palau
1965-78: Marianas, Marshall Islands, Palau, Yap, Ponape and Kusaie
1978-80: Marshall Islands, Palau, Yap, Ponape and Kusaie
1980-85: Truk, Ponape, Kusaie and Yap
1985-?: Truk, Ponape, Kusaie, Yap and Faichuk
?-present: Chuuk (Truk), Ponape, Kusaie and Yap

I've only heard of two versions of the Micronesian flag:

The version with 6 stars was adopted 1962 and approved by the USA in 1965. The 6 stars represented Palau, Truk, Marshall Islands, Yap, Ponape and the Northern Marianas. On 1 April 1976 the Northern Marianas achieved commonwealth status outside the Federation, and in January 1977 the state of Kosrae was formed out of part of Ponape within the federation. As far as I know the flag wasn't changed in 1977. The number of stars was reduced to 4 when Palau (or Belau) and the Marshall Islands went their own way. The flag was adopted on 30 November 1978.
Unattributed

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As far as I know, Faichuk has never managed to be recognized as a separate state. Or has it? It briefly appeared, for instance, on the map of Oceania in the Petit Larousse dictionary. From what I heard, Faichuk inhabitants (Faichuk is the name used for a group of larger islands in the western part of the Chuuk lagoon) were tired of receiving scarce funding from the Chuukese government and almost managed to secede, but a veto from the FSM president (himself a Chuukese) prevented them from doing so. I have tried to get info about a Faichukese flag, to no avail. But I did not say that there was no such flag.

Has anybody different information? If there really had been such a state, even for a while, then the FSM flag itself ought to have changed during that period.

Besides, if Kusaie is quoted as a component as soon as 1965, then definitely Truk should be as well. Truk (now Chuuk) was a constituent entity long before Kusaie was separated from Ponape, and from then on Kusaie was called Kosrae. In particular, I would be surprised to hear that the sixth star on the Pacific Islands Territory Trust flag stood for Kusaie and not for Truk.
Thanh Tâm.Lê, 16 June 1999

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When I first quoted Faichuk, its existence was denied and no reference could be found in Encyclopedias, etc... except the ones that I posted. I searched and I later found more information, but no flag. After two years the situation is not changed. Faichuk never was recognized and their government was dissolved. Their flag, if one existed (and seems very probable that one existed) was unofficial.
Jaume Ollé, 20 June 1999

According to the website of the Congress of the Federated States of Micronesia, the first law passed by the First Congress of Micronesia was to establish the national flag.

§ 501. Design designated.

There shall be and there is hereby adopted an official flag of the Federated States of Micronesia, which shall consist of a circle of four white stars centered on a field of blue. The width of the flag of the Federated States of Micronesia shall bear a ratio to its length of 1 to 1.9, and the width of the flag to the width of a star the ratio of five to one. The flag may be reproduced for unofficial purposes, with different dimensions.
Source: TT Code 1966 § 15; TT Code 1970, 1 TTC 201; TT Code 1980, 1 TTC 201; PL IC-6 § 1.

§ 502. Display of flags.

(1) The flag of the Federated States of Micronesia shall be displayed in the open only from sunrise until sunset and during such hours shall be displayed only on buildings, flagstaffs, or halyards.

(2) The flag of the Federated States of Micronesia shall be hoisted briskly and lowered ceremoniously.

(3) No person shall display any other flag above or in a position of superior prominence or honor to the flag of the Federated States of Micronesia at any place within the Federated States of Micronesia; provided, that this subsection shall not apply to foreign embassies, consulates, diplomatic missions, or the offices of international agencies.

(4) The President may establish rules and procedures for the half-mast display of the flag of the Federated States of Micronesia and the use of the flag at official funerals.
Source: TT Code 1966 § 16; TT Code 1970, 1 TTC 202; TT Code 1980, 1 TTC 202; PL IC-6 § 2; PL 4-82 § 1.

§ 503. Desecration of flag.

(1) Any person who knowingly casts contempt upon any flag of the Federated States of Micronesia by publicly mutilating, defacing, defiling, burning, or trampling upon it shall be fined not more than $100, or imprisoned for not more than six months, or both.

(2) The term "flag of the Federated States of Micronesia" as used in this section shall include an official flag of the Federated States of Micronesia, as described in section 501 of this title, or any reproduction thereof for official or unofficial purposes and having the same or different dimensions as the flag of the Federated States of Micronesia.
Source: COM PL 7-135 § 1; TT Code 1980, 1 TTC 203; PL IC-6 § 3.

Source: FM Legal Information Service

Phil Nelson, 23 February 2006