Fiji to remove Union Jack from flag

Fiji will replace the Union Jack on its national flag with a domestically-inspired emblem, the Pacific country's prime minister has announced.

A British colony for almost a century before it gained independence in 1970, Fiji is one of five independent nations that uses the design on its flag including Australia, New Zealand, neighbouring nation Tuvalu and the the UK itself.

Speaking this morning, Fijian leader Voreqe Bainimarama said the union flag is an irrelevant symbol of "the coloniser", and needs to be replaced.

“We need to replace the symbols on our existing flag that are out of date and no longer relevant, including some anchored to our colonial past. The new flag should reflect Fiji’s position in the world today as a modern and truly independent nation state,” he said.

“The existing flag is widely loved and admired and I want to stress that this initiative is in no way a repudiation of it or the warm sentiments we all feel whenever it is raised. It has served us well since it was introduced at independence in 1970,” he added.

Although still an active member of the British Commonwealth, many within the country regard the presence of British insignia, including a lion on the national crest, as an anachronism.

"The Union Flag belongs to the British, not to us. The shield on our flag has the British lion and the cross of St George – a British patron saint. What does this have to do with us?", said Mr Bainimarama, who was elevated to power in 2006 following a military coup before winning a series of democratic elections seven years later.

“They are the symbols of the coloniser – Britain – a country with whom we are friends and will continue to be so. But they are not symbols that are relevant to any Fijian in the 21stcentury. And they should go. Honoured symbols of our past, but not of our future.”

Fijians aren’t the first to agitate for the removal of the Union Jack from the national flag.

Attempts to rebrand Australia as a republic failed following an unsuccessful referendum in 1999, and New Zealanders will vote next year on replacing the pre-eminent symbol of British unionism on its flag.

Members of the Fijian public are being encouraged to send in alternative designs for the new flag, which is set to be unveiled on the archipelago nation’s independence day in October.

The country is perhaps best known for its rugby union team, which sports a black palm tree crest against a white background, with no reference to the flag itself.