Island flag linked to Chile – and to American flag

by James Breig

With Easter’s arrival, it’s natural to ask some questions about Easter Island’s flag.

Q. How did Easter Island get its name?

A. Like Christmas Island, it was named by a European explorer. When Jacob Roggevee of Holland spotted the land on Easter Sunday in 1722, he became the first European to see the colossal statues on the isle.

Q. What colossal statues?

A. More than 800 giant statues, carved from stone, stand on the island. At 13 feet high and weighing 14 tons, they still puzzle historians and other experts as to who made them and how.

Q. Does Easter Island, which belongs to Chile, have its own flag?

A. It has two variations. The current island banner consists of what looks like a large, red smile on a white background. The crescent represents a huge neckpiece worn by women who are native to the Pacific isle.

Q. What’s on either end of that crescent?

A. Those are male faces. The design is thought to date back to the 13th century.

Q. How old is the Easter Island flag?

A. In its current form, it’s marking its tenth anniversary this year.

Q. What’s the other variation of the Easter Island flag?

A. The crescent and faces remain, but there are also four crouching figures in the corners.

Q. Since Chile owns Easter Island, what is Chile’s flag like?

A. Its elements are based on the American flag. As a result, it’s red, white and blue but with a single star. According to “Complete Flags of the World,” red represents blood that was shed for liberty, blue stands for cloudless skies and white “symbolizes the snows of the Andes.”

Q. How old is the Chile flag?

A. It’s older than most U.S. state flags. Chile adopted it in 1817, nearly 200 years ago, as the nation freed itself from Spanish rule. Like Texas’s state flag, the Chilean flag is known as the Lone Star (La Estrella Solitaria).