Flags Flag Patches San Remo Tongan
NATIONAL FLAG TONGA
Tonga’s
flag greatly symbolises the country's link with Christianity. The red cross
located in the top left corner relates to the cross in which Jesus was
crucified on. The white represents purity and the red stands for the blood
Jesus shed. The flag was created by both King George Tupou I and Shirley
Waldemar Baker, with both wanting to create a flag that would represent
Christianity. This flag was first adopted in 1875.
The
archipelago of Tonga is located in the South Pacific and consists of
approximately 176 islands, with only 36 being inhabited. Dispersed through the
36 islands is a population of around 106,000 people. The islands are
approximately 748km2 in size. The capital city of Tonga is
Nuku’alofa and throughout Tonga Tongan and English are the most common
languages spoken.
The
country of Tonga is completely free from any species of venomous spiders or
snakes. On the subject of reptiles, the Tongan royal family once had a pet
radiated tortoise which lived about 200 years. The tortoise was given to the
royal family in 1777 by Captain James Cook, which he had brought to Tonga from
Madagascar. The tortoise eventually died in 1966. This makes it the oldest
radiated tortoise ever recorded. The royal family of Tonga holds another world
record. King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV was once recorded weighing around 208.7
kilograms, which made him the world’s heaviest monarch. Tonga contains only one
species of native land mammal, the pacific flying fox. The pacific flying fox
is under threat in various other island nations. However, in Tonga they are
much safer, as the only people who may harvest these bats are the royal family.
