The on 31st of January in 1968 (day of the attainment of independence) introduced flag shows on a blue field a horizontal yellow stripe in the middle, as well in the left lower half a twelve-pointed white star. The flag expresses in this way the geographic position of the state. It is situated closely underneath the equator and western of the international date-line. The twelve-pointed white star stands for the twelve tribes of Nauru, but meanwhile two out of them are extincted. The colours of the flag seem to be defined today as follows: blue = Pantone 280, yellow = Pantone 123.
The coat of arms of Nauru shows on a by palm-tree-whisks surrounded shield the old alchemic symbol for phosphorus in the top half, phosphates were the economic wealth of the land. In the lower half a frigate-bird and a twig of Tomano blossoms. Above the shield, under a band with the name of the country, appears the twelve-pointed star, symbolising the twelve tribes of Nauru. Below the shield appears a banner with the country's motto: "Gods will first".
1798 · dicovery of the by Polynesians inhabited Island, in the following years occasional private colonization by the British
1830 · British settle
1878 · start of a tribal war that will cost the lives of a third of the population
1886 · Treaty of Berlin, the German Empire and United Kingdom settle the division of their spheres of interest in the Western Pacific, Nauru becomes a German area of interest
2nd of October 1888 · the German Empire establishes its protectorate over Nauru and ends the tribal war, Nauru becomes part of the Marshall-Islands, the local administration is carried out by the German Jaluit Society
1899 · start of the Christian Mission
1906 · the Marshall Islands (incl. Nauru) become affiliated as District of Jap with the colony of German New Guinea
1914 · First World War, British and Australian troops occupy Kaiser-Wilhelm-Land
1920 · Versailles Dictate, the German Empire loses all its colonies, Nauru (like the whole Kaiser-Wilhelm-Land) becomes a Mandate Territory of the League of Nations under Australian mandate
1942–45 · Second World War, occupation by Japanese troops
The origin of the word "Nauru" is unknown. The Nauruans name their island then like today "Naoero". The word "Nauru" was later created out of "Naoero", to facilitate the speaking of the name of the island for Europeans and Americans. The island had further names in the past: the English colonists before 1888 named it "Pleasant Island" or "Shank Island", the German colonial sovereigns "Nawodo" or "Onawero".
