Papua New Guinea - Provincial Flags 2001

10 Toea, Enga Province
The background is divided into black (for the national flag) and green (for vegetation) triangles. At the centre is a yellow, black and white Dendrobium engae orchid (the provincial flower).

15 Toea, Simbu (Chimbu) Province
The bird of paradise and Southern Cross from the national flag are combined with two red spears (representing leadership), a white chain (for unity) and a yellow coffee branch (for the main cash crop).

20 Toea, Manus Province
A yellow Manus Friarbird flies over brown (land) and blue (sea) triangles. The 5 Manus Green Snails represent the five regions.

Here is the extract from the interview with the designer of the Manus provincial flag Luke Bulei, where he explains the meaning of the flag elements and colours:

..."Many of our people have interpreted the flag and the symbols in it wrongly, either intentionally or because of misunderstanding. In 1977, Worei Community School was informed of the Manus Provincial Flag Design Competition. With limited resources and assistance, I decided to take part in what was to represent the people of Manus later. At the time I was working on the entry, the symbols and colours had specific meanings.

The colour brown represents the inland people and the blue represents the island people. The Chauka is only found in the Manus province. It is not found in any other place in PNG. My second reason for selecting the chauka is that it heralds the coming of dawn and signals the going down of the sun. Thirdly the chauka often warns us of dangers. Fourthly it informs us whether the hunting trip will be successful or not. And of course the NBC Radio Station in Manus had become Maus Bilong Chauka several years before. The other important symbol on the Manus Flag is the green snail. Like the Chauka, the green snail is unique to the Manus province."...

50 Toea, Central Province

The silhouette of a lakatoi canoe represents tradition. It is set over a blue background representing the sea. A large star (for Central Province) and five smaller stars (the 5 districts) are set over a red background representing the land.

2 Kina, New Ireland Province
The Southern Cross (a guide to seafarers and indicator of the seasons) is shown over a blue background for the sea. A silhouette of a paradise drongo (a bird found only in New Ireland) is shown on an orange background.

5 Kina, Sandaun (West Sepik) Province
Black and red triangles form the background, with the gold bird of paradise symbol from the national flag set over the red. Six stars (representing the 6 districts) are set above a light blue setting sun with yellow rays (the provincial symbol).

Papua New Guinea - Overprints Provincial Flags 2004

The Papua New Guinea Provinces:

• Central
• East New Britain
• East Sepik
• Eastern Highlands
• Enga
• Gulf (Goeland)
• Madang
• Manus
• Milne Bay
• Morobe
• National Capital District (Port Moresby)
• New Ireland
• North Solomons / Bougainville Island
• Oro (Northern)
• Sandaun (West Sepik)
• Simbu (Chimbu)
• Southern Highlands
• Western (Fly River)
• Western Highlands
• West New Britain

Where the Provincial Flags on Stamp for West New Britain & National Capital District (Port Moresby) ??

Papua New Guinea - Provincial Flags 2004

70 Toea, East New Britain Province
A green stripe separates red and blue triangles. Four white stars over the blue represent the national flag. Traditional shell money surrounds a circle. Masks of Tolai (dukduk) and Baining dancers are in the centre.

70 Toea, Madang Province
The flag of Madang is red-yellow-black, with 6 small white stars on the bottom of the black stripe and an emblem in black in a white canton.

Red, yellow and black stripes (representing the national flag) form the background. Six white stars represent the 6 districts. In black and white, Madang's memorial to the coast-watchers of the Second World War is surrounded by coconut palm branches (for agriculture) and a slit drum (for tradition).

It appears the province of Madang (Papua New Guinea) has changed its flag. In former times five BLACK stars were arranged in the middle yellow stripe. Now there are seven it's white stars in the lower black strip arranged.

2.65 Kina, Eastern Highlands Province
Eastern Highlands: Red and green triangles form the background. Inside a large yellow star in the centre, a legendary one-legged man named Nokondi holds a coffee branch (the province¹s main cash crop). The star has 6 points (for the six districts). It is surrounded by 8 smaller stars (for the local government councils).

2.70 Kina, Morobe Province
The background stripes are green (for vegetation), yellow (for Markham Valley) and blue (for the sea). A white bird of paradise (representing animal life), white pig¹s tusks (traditional exchange), a brown and yellow kundu drum (for festivals) and spears (for traditional warfare) are at the centre.

4.60 Kina, Milne Bay Province
Ratio 2:3. Two vertical stripes, green and white, respectively, at hoist (about 1/7 of the fly width each), then diagonally divided (NW-SE) blue-red, with a golden star in upper fly.

Stripes of green (for plants) and white (for beaches) are shown on the left. A square is divided into triangles of blue (for the sea) and red (for festivals). A yellow star on red represents the Eastern Star (a seafarer's guide) and Christian missionaries.

Isn't this very similar to the South Moluccan independentist flag?
They're a bit far apart from each other (Milne Bay is the SE tip of Papua New Guinea), but..

10 Kina, East Sepik Province
In the upper right quarter, a yellow bird of paradise (representing the national flag) is set over a red background. In the lower left quarter, a haus tambaran (for the hill and plains people), crocodile (for the river people), shark (for the coast people), kundu and garamut drums, spear and lime pot (representing culture) are set over a green background.

Papua New Guinea - Provincial Flags 2005

75 Toea, Gulf (Goeland) Province
Inside a blue background, 2 crocodiles (rivers) surround a disc with a white seagull (representing the people) over red, and the Southern Cross (representing the 5 original districts) over black.

75 Toea, Southern Highlands Province
A black stripe separates red (upper right) and green (lower left) triangles. Seven white stars (for the 7 districts) cover the red and green. A cassowary head (representing traditional exchange) and two spears (for defence) are set in yellow over the black.

1 Kina, North Solomon (Bouganville Islands/ Republic of Meekamui) Province
After 1st September 1975 flag of the republic was in use. It's described 15-9-75: the flag is dark blue signifying the Pacific Ocean where our country is; green in the circle signifies our rich island; the jagged white shell is our money; the black signifies our skin color of which we are very proud and is unique in the Pacific, the hat in the centre is called upe worn by young men at the transition period from adolescence to manhood. The stripes on the hat (red)-centre stands for men and those at the side for women.

Just a few words on the matter. Bougainville is presently a part of Papua New Guinea. The meeting referred to was held to determine whether those opposed to the status of the island would split with the opposition party (Bougainville Interim Government (BIG)) and the (Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA)). I would not call this a national flag rather a subnational or flag of an aspirant people, as there is not presently a recognized nation, except through the Unrepresented Nations and People's Organization (UNPO) where the Bougainville Interim Government represents these people.

3 Kina, Oro Province

A gold strip of tapa cloth with red and black markings (representing culture) and a yellow Queen Alexandra birdwing butterfly (representing wildlife) cover a green background (for vegetation).

3.10 Kina, Western Highlands Province
A white stripe (for peace) separates triangles of green (for vegetation) and black (from the national flag). Stars represent the 3 geographic regions. The provincial emblem is set over the green.

5.20 Kina, Western (Fly River) Province
The black and red of the national flag form borders around a gold square holding the provincial emblem. The emblem, in black outline, includes a head-dress with white wing feathers of the crane (for unity) and a bow and arrows (for tradition).

Asked, "David, don't you forget Fly River?" Well, this turned out to be Western, so probably the province changed its name. Can anyone confirm this ???