Roundup: Fiji defers quest for new national flag

Fiji on Tuesday announced that it has decided to defer the quest for a new national flag that will no longer contain colonial symbols seen on the current one.

Fiji had originally planned to hoist the new national flag on October 10, 2015, the country's 45th anniversary of independence from British colonial rule, with the new flag designing consultation period ending on June 30. However, Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama announced on Tuesday that the consultation period has now been extended to the end of the year.

"While we had originally set a deadline of today (Tuesday) for the first phase of the flag selection process to be completed, the government has decided to extend the period of consultation. More choices are going to be offered over the next few weeks and months. And the closing date for design consultations will now be December 31, 2015. Cabinet and then Parliament will consider the new flag design when it convenes in 2016," Bainimarama said in a statement.

Noting that Fijians' response via the national flag website, through email correspondence and talkback radio, as well as by face-to-face communication with national flag feedback teams has been "very positive", the Fijian prime minister said the government "recognizes that they want more time to consider what form the new flag should take and are seeking more choices than are being offered by the existing 23 designs," which were shortlisted from over 2,000 entries submitted during the national flag designing competition period earlier this year.

"By extending the deadline, there is now ample opportunity for Fijians of all ages and backgrounds to further contribute and consider what symbols most appropriately represent our wonderful nation. It has taken some time in the Fijian way for many people to become fully engaged and I very much welcome the current lively debate on the flag designs," Bainimarama said.

"I appeal to every Fijian to join our quest for a flag that represents who we are today, rather than our past, and that we can fly proudly into the future as we fulfill our vision to become a modern nation state," he added.

After the designing competition period ended, billboards featuring the 23 shortlisted entries were erected throughout the capital of Suva and some other places, calling on Fijians to express opinions so that the final one can be chosen.

Of the finalist entries, almost all retain the sky blue color of the current national flag, with elements such as the sun, stars, coconut trees and waves.

However, some Fijians said none of the 23 designs contain necessary elements to represent the whole of Fiji. Moreover, a few groups has held peaceful protests in front of the billboards, wrapping Fiji's current national flag around group members and putting the photos up on social media.

According to local news website Fijivillage, Prime Minister Bainimarama has said that he knows that public reaction to the 23 designs that have been put out has not been entirely positive, and he also knows that many Fijians do not object to a national flag change but want a design they like.

"He (Bainimarama) welcomes this debate about the designs, the criticism of designs as well as the positive responses that have come in," Fijivillage reported earlier this month.

"The prime minister stresses that none of the current designs are locked in stone, and if necessary, the government will review the current process to get the right result," said the report.

Fiji gained independence on October 10, 1970 from British colonial rule, and the current Fijian national flag contains hefty British elements, including the national flag of Britain itself.

Earlier this year, Bainimarama expressed the motive behind the change.

"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? They are the symbols of the colonizer -- 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 21st century," he said, " And they should go. Honored symbols of our past, but not of our future." Endi