Flag of Vanuatu (construction sheet)

Vlastní dílo. Geometry and dimensions are based on measurements of the flag image that appears in the schedule on page 2 of Vanuatu's State Flag and Armorial Bearings Public Declaration.

A copy of the declaration can be found at paclii.org. That web page displays the text from the public declaration, but it does not directly display the schedule. There is a download button at the top of the page that sometimes works; when it is working, the download button will allow the download of a file named sfaabpd392.rtf. The file contains the entire declaration complete with a colour copy of the schedule.

The public declaration is dated March 19,1980 which was just a few months prior to Vanuatu gaining its independence. It starts with the following sentence:

The Schedule to this declaration contains the National Flag, the National Emblem and the National Coat of Arms (hereafter called "the National Symbols") of Vanuatu.

— First sentence from Vanuatu's State Flag and Armorial Bearings Public Declaration — 1980

The public declaration does not use words to describe or define the geometry of the flag; the flag is therefore defined only by the image in the schedule on page 2. The image is a simple bitmap image with no labelled dimensions.

• The flag image in the schedule is 471 pixels × 315 pixels which corresponds to an exact ratio of 2:3.
• There is no evidence to indicate that the public declaration has been either repealed or superseded.

The implication is that the official flag of Vanuatu has a legal aspect ratio of 2:3.

Most of the books and websites devoted to sovereign state flags claim that Vanuatu's flag ratio is one of 19:36, 11:18, or 3:5. None of these books and websites attempt to back up their claims with any official government statute, declaration, or proclamation.

• This construction sheet uses a ratio of 2:3 to match the flag image in the schedule on page 2 of the public declaration.
• The tusk on this construction sheet is traced from the detail image that appears below the flag image in the schedule.
• The ferns shown in the schedule are of too blurry to properly reproduced. Therefore, the ferns on this construction sheet are copied from an old version of Wikimedia's File:Flag_of_Vanuatu.svg; they have been modified to make one fern appear to be in front of the other.