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Kingdom of Abemama (Kiribati)

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Kingdom of Abemama

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Kiribati

Kingdom of Abemama

by Christian Berghänel, 21 October 2002

Royal flag 1890 - 27 May 1892? Note that the shark is black. The kingdom of Abemama was in the Pacific Ocean and currently is a part of Kiribati.
Christian Berghänel, 21 October 2002

by Christian Berghänel, 21 October 2002

Presumed national flag (all functions) circa 1889 - 27 May 1892? Note that the shark is black, and there is no crown or scroll at the national flag.
Christian Berghänel, 21 October 2002

The shark is a legendary ancestor of the king's dynasty.
Victor Lomantsov, 14 October 2000

Note that the shark is plain black instead of grey on the "Flags of Paradise" chart released by the Flag Society of Australia.
Ivan Sache, 15 October 2000

A picture of this flag appeared on a Marshall Islands stamp ("Stevenson's visit to Apemama, Gilbert Is."): http://www.trussel.com/rls/rlsmar.htm. "When the *Equator* deposited the party next on Apemama, they found themselves guests of King Tembinoka, "the Napoleon of the Gilberts." Tembinoka, who had previously excluded all Westerners, took a fancy to the Stevensons and spent many hours conferring with the white-suited author in the thatched Maniap depicted on the stamp. The tri-colored shark flag, which Mrs. Stevenson designed for Tembinoka, flies over their meeting."

The British, however, brought the island under their control - see the last picture on Jane Resture' site: http://www.janeresture.com/abemama/. "Declaration of a protectorate on Abemama by Captain Davis, 27th May 1892" (and flag-raising ceremony).

Jan Mertens, 28 December 2004

by Christian Berghänel, 21 October 2002

[This flag] may have been used infrequently as state flag 28 June 1884 - ?.
Christian Berghänel, 21 October 2002

by Christian Berghänel, 21 October 2002

In use circa 15 April 1884 - 28 June 1884 as state flag.
Christian Berghänel, 21 October 2002

This flag was hoisted in 1884 when the King Binoko conquest the Nonouti island. The British compelled Binoko to evacuate the island, and then one of the four stars was suppressed. (same year 1884). In 1889 Fanny Stevenson, the wife of Robert Louis Stevenson, designed a new flag and royal banner: The Kingdom of Abemama was under British Protection after 1892, and was declared crown colony in 1911.

Source: W. Smith (Report of the 10th International Congress of Vexillology) in the Flag Bulletin XXXVI:1-3/120
Jaume Ollé, 15 February 1996