Rapa Nui, 2006

The flag of Rapa Nui or Isla de Pascua, Easter Island was adopted on 9 May 2006. It is a white flag with a red reimiro (a wooden pectoral ornament once worn by the people of Rapa Nui) in the centre. The rei miro was worn by both men and women. It served as an insignia of high rank, and the paramount chief of the island was said to have worn two of them as pectorals and two others on his shoulders on special occasions. The crescent shape may refer to the moon, an association found throughout Polynesia. The significance of the heads is unknown, though they may relate to ancestors.