The today's flag of Christmas Island was introduced on 14th of April in 1986, but was only of an unofficial nature. It became official on 26th of February in 2002 and may be used as the national flag. The flag is divided diagonally from top right to bottom left between an upper green field and a lower blue field. In the green field is the silhouette of a flying White-tailed Tropicbird, according to other sources it is a Golden Bosun. Both species are said to occur only on this island. In the blue field is the Southern Cross, formed from white stars. In the centre of the flag is a yellow disc with the silhouette of the island. The colours blue and green represent the sea and vegetation. The colours yellow and green are the national colours of Australia. The Southern Cross also refers to the ties to this country, a detail taken 1:1 from the Australian flag. The colours of the flag appear to be defined and, like Australia, follow the British colour system: green = Pantone 364 C, blue = Pantone 280 C and yellow = Pantone 116 C. Christmas Island was part of the British Crown Colony of the Straits Settlements from 1888. The Straits Settlements became a British Crown Colony in 1867. A flag was introduced for them, as was customary in British colonies at the time.
United Kingdom introduced a flag system in 1864 in which: • war ships fly the "White Ensign" (naval flag), a white flag often with an uninterrupted red St. George's-Cross and with the Union Jack in the upper staff quadrant of the flag, • merchant ships fly a "Red Ensign" (also named "Civil Ensign" → civil flag, the real merchant flag), a red flag with the Union Jack in the upper staff quadrant of the flag, and • governmental ships fly the "Blue Ensign" (flag for the use by the gouvernment → the actual state flag), a blue flag with the Union Jack in the upper staff quadrant of the flag.
From 1865, ships of colonial governments were allowed to fly a Blue Ensign with a badge in the flying end. The badge of the Straits Settlements was a red rhombus with a white tiller on which three crowns were placed. These stood for the three possessions of Pinang, Malacca and Singapore. During the Japanese occupation (1942–1945), the flag of Japan was used. After the dissolution of the Straits Settlements, the island remained in British hands and the Union Jack was used. The administration of Christmas Island was transferred to Australia on 1st of October in 1958, and only the Australian flags were officially used on the island until 2002.
1942–1945 · Christmas Island is occupied by Japanese troops during the Second World War
1st of April 1946 · the end of the Straits Settlements: Penang and Malacca become affiliated to the Malay Union (Malaya), but Singapore becomes an own British crown colony, the Cocos Islands and Christmas Island remain as a British possession, Labuan comes to British North Borneo
1st of October 1958 · the administration of Christmas Island becomes transfered to Australia
