Samoa: Flag and Facts
Samoa's flag puts a blue panel in the top hoist corner of a red field, and that panel shows five white stars in the shape of the Southern Cross.
- Official name
- Independent State of Samoa
- Capital
- Apia
- Region
- Polynesia
- Population
- 210,223 (2025)
- Languages
- English, Samoan
- Currency
- Samoan tālā
- Area
- 2,842 km² (1,097 sq mi)
- People
- Samoan
- Calling code
- +685
- Highest point
- Mount Silisili 1,857 m
- Independence
- 1 January 1962 (from New Zealand-administered UN trusteeship)
- National symbols
- Southern Cross constellation (five five-pointed stars)
- Borders
- No land borders
About Samoa
Courage is the meaning of the red, freedom of the blue, and purity of the white. The five stars of the Southern Cross also count as the national symbol on their own.
Austronesian settlers landed around 1000 B.C. Early Samoans did business with, and married into, Fijian and Tongan nobles. Out of that grew the fa'amatai system of chiefly titles, which still shapes politics: nearly every seat in the legislature is reserved for matai, the heads of families. By the 1880s, trading posts from Germany, Britain, and the US dotted the islands. In 1889, warships from all three crowded into Apia and nearly came to blows, until a cyclone wrecked or damaged every one of them. In 1899 the Western powers ended the monarchy and divided the islands, with Germany taking the west. Independence came on 1 January 1962.
Did you know?
- In English, the title of Samoa's anthem is The Banner of Freedom.
- Mount Silisili, Samoa's tallest peak, rises to 1,857 meters.
- Samoa covers slightly less land than Rhode Island.
Want to test yourself? The random flag generator has a quiz mode, and the full flags of the world page shows every flag at once.
Questions about Samoa
What are the main islands of Samoa?
Savaii and Upolu are the two main islands, plus several smaller islands and empty islets.
What currency does Samoa use?
The Samoan tala, marked T.
Sources
- CIA World Factbook, checked October 8, 2026
- REST Countries data (mledoze/countries), checked October 8, 2026
- Flag artwork: flag-icons (MIT), checked October 8, 2026
Facts are compiled from these open sources and rewritten in our own words. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.