Solomon Islands – national flag
The flag was officially introduced in 1977. The five stars allude to the state’s five most important archipelagos, and the blue color stands for the sea around them. The green field symbolizes the land and its vegetation, the narrow yellow diagonal stripe stands for the sunshine.
- Countryaah: What does the flag of Solomon Islands look like? Follow this link, then you will see the image in PNG format and flag meaning description about this country.
Solomon Islands – history
According to a2zgov, the islands were possibly already inhabited from 4000 BC. of Papuan-language hunter-gatherer groups. Around 3000 BC. forced Neolithic, Austronesian-speaking farmers and settled in especially the coastal areas. With the highly developed canoes, they were able to reach the outermost islands. The Spaniard Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira (approximately 1541-95) discovered in 1568 the largest islands in the group, which was later named after King Solomon’s treasures. In 1595 he unsuccessfully sought to establish a colony on Santa Cruz. It took almost 200 years for other European explorers to reach the Solomon Islands.
- AbbreviationFinder: Check three-letter abbreviation for each country in the world, such as SLB which represents the official name of Solomon Islands.
After superficial contacts with European traders and whalers, the islands became in the second half of the 1800’s. goals for an aggressive work recruitment (blackbirding) for plantations and for an intensive Christian missionary activity. In the Western world, the islands gained a reputation for being dangerous to health, and the people were uncivilized and wild. In 1899, the Solomon Islands, along with the Santa Cruz Islands, became a British protectorate, while Buka and Bougainville became part of Papua New Guinea. For 80 years the Solomon Islands were subject to a paternalistic colonial rule, interrupted only by World War II, when especially the Guadalcanal was the scene of fierce fighting between the Japanese and Americans. The war gave the population knowledge of the larger world and strengthened the desire for independence. The Solomon Islands became an independent state in 1978 with Peter Kenilorea (b. 1943) as Prime Minister.
Ethnic clashes between the peoples of the two central islands, Malaita and Guadalcanal, in 2000 led to open fighting around the capital, Honiara, where many Malaitans have settled on land claimed by the Guadalcanal people. Despite the conclusion of a ceasefire, it has not been possible to normalize the situation because the warring parties will not surrender all their weapons. Economic chaos, corruption, lawlessness and murder continue to ravage the country and are a threat to the nation’s existence.
Furthermore, Solomon Islands’ relations with neighboring Papua New Guinea are strained as a result of the unrest in Bougainville.
The country’s situation is marked by internal conflicts that flared up around the year 2000 with clashes between ethnic groups. The country’s prime minister asked for help from Australia and New Zealand. In August 2010, calm parliamentary elections were held.