Reunion

The Flag of Reunion

The island of Reunion is located off the coast of Africa, near to the island of Madagascar. Because it is a Departement, and thus an integral part of France, it is actually the outermost region of the European Union, and the Eurozone. And, because of the time zone where it is, it was the first place in the world to begin to use the Euro!

The island was discovered and claimed by the French in the early 1600's. The island has been held by France ever since. Apart from 1810 to1815, when it was held by Britain. In 1815, it was returned to French control. During WWII, the island sided with Vichy France.

The island itself has a very ethnically diverse population, with immigrants from Arab nations, India, and Africa drawn by work in the sugar industry that sustained the island for a long time. 

As Reunion is a Departement, its formal flag is the French tricolore. However, there is a locally designed flag which is gaining popularity. It features 3 thin stripes running vertically next to the hoist. The rest of the flag is divided into 4 triangles. The blue representing the European, Christian community, the orange representing the Indian, Hindu community, the red represents the Chinese community, as well as the volcano, and the green represents the the African and Islamic community.

The central white disc represents the island and the desire for the islands various communities to live in peace and harmony.

There has been a competition as well to come up with a new flag for the region, which is now under development by the local vexillological association. 

The proposal sees a red triangle at the base of the flag, over a blue field, with golden rays coming from the top of the triangle. The blue represents the sky, the red represents the volcano, and strength, and the golden rays represents the sun. This winning entry was created in 2003.

More recently, a new organisation grew in 2006. The LPLP is a pro-independence campaign to break from France. 

Then, in 2008, the LPLP introduced its idea for a new national flag.This proposal is a red banner with the bottom half being 2 horizontal stripes of gold and green. In the upper hoist canton is a gold 5 point star.