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Wallis and Futuna (France)

Overseas Territory of Wallis and Futuna, Territoire d'Outre-mer de Wallis-et-Futuna

Flags of Wallis and Futuna - Images by Željko Heimer, 22 September 2001 and Zoltán Horváth, 19 December 2024 respectively
left, flag of France, official; right, local flag, in use de facto since 1985, see its status and use below

See also:

Status of the Local Flag

I have a letter of the Secrétaire Général of the Territoire des Îles Wallis et Futuna dated 27 May 1994, who states, "le Territoire n'a pas d'emblème spécifique officiel. Le seul drapeau officiel est le drapeau National Tricolore" which translates, "the territory has no official specific emblem. The only official flag is the national tricolour flag".

Armand Noel du Payrat, 4 July 2000

On a TV documentary (magazine Outremers) on Wallis and Futuna, they showed an official ceremony during which the three traditional kings and the prefet (representing the French government) were present. A lot of children waved French Tricolore and local flags (one in each hand). Several poles had been erected, and there was an alternancy of Tricolore and local flags. As Armand du Payrat reported, the local flag does not have the official status the French Polynesian flag has, but it seems to be a "de facto official flag".

Ivan Sache, 4 July 2000

The flag with the four white triangles is not only unofficial, but also almost absent from the territory of Wallis and Futuna. There are currently three local flags in Wallis and Futuna, one per kingdom, but officially, there is no flag of Wallis and Futuna as such. However, the "four white triangles" design derivated from the flag of Uvéa is observed when people and representatives from Wallis-and-Futuna wish to represent he territory abroad, and can be seen in the local airport too.

In a broadcast by the local public television channel Wallis and Futuna 1re [source to be taken with caution, beacause of several oversimplified elements], the repot reads: "This flag is currently only adopted locally, since the official flag of Wallis and Futuna is that of France."

Olivier Touzeau, 26 March 2025

Description and de facto variant

Flag of Wallis and Futuna - Image by Zoltán Horváth, 19 December 2024
in use de facto since 1985, esp. abroad and in Uvéa's airport

Variant flags of Wallis and Futuna - Images (left 2:3, right 3:5) by Olivier Touzeau, 28 March 2025
In use de facto, especillay in sporting events

Mucha 1985 says:

The flag is red with four white isosceles triangles placed in the middle. The triangles have their apexes turned towards the centre and are at right angles to each other; in the upper hoist there is a small French tricolour separated from the red field by narrow white stripes. Red symbolizes courage, and white stands for purity of ideals. The triangles signify three native kings of the islands, and the French administrator; the French tricolour is a reference to French sovereignty. The flag has no official status.

Jarig Bakker, 4 July 2000

Sources for colors of the local flag:
- Vexilla Mundi [page] illustrates the French flag and local unofficial flag, and gives colors in Pantone system: PMS 199C (red), PMS White, and PMS 540C (blue).
- Wikipedia [page] illustrates the French flag as its official flag and also illustrates the unofficial local flag, and gives RGB color values: Blue: 0-38-84, White: 255-255-255, and Red: 206-17-38.
Flag Color Codes (https://www.flagcolorcodes.com/wallis-futuna-islands-unofficial) gives color values for its unofficial flag as follows: Blue (Hex # 2F66FF - RGB 47-102-255 - CMYK 82-60-0-0 - Pantone 2727 C - RAL 5012), Red (Hex # F60100 - RGB 246-1-0 - CMYK 0-100-100-4 - Pantone 2347 C - RAL 3026).

Zoltán Horváth, 19 December 2024

The saltire flag is mainly visible outside the Territory, and in the airport of Wallis too.
The blog "Erhan à Wallis" [source] also stated in 2011: "The flag at the airport and the one flown during official ceremonies are different. The constants for all versions are the color red, the Maltese cross (more or less stylized), and the French flag in the top left corner (of varying size)."
This observation is corroborated by this 2017 photo at Wallis airport: source (Wikimedia Commons). The French flag is in the canton, touching the edges of the flag.

Example of the saltire (four white triangles) flag outside Wallis and Futuna:

in French Polynesia during meetings with representatives of Wallis and Futuna: source and source
in Brittany in a shop created by a Polynesian: source

During the Pacific Mini-Games and other sport events, Wallis-and-Futuna is represented indifferently with the saltire (four white triangles flag) and the cross pattée flag:

four white triangles flag: source (2022)
two models at the same time: source (2017)
cross pattée flag: source (2017)
cross pattée flag: source (2025)

Except in the airport, elsewhere within the Territory of Wallis and Futuna only the flags of the three kingdoms are visible, whether within their respective territories or within the Territorial Assembly. In these flags, the French Tricolore in the upper hoist, but not on the edges of the flag.

picture of the three kingdoms flags (and no "Wallis-and-Futuna flag") in the territorial assembly from this page
video showing that in Futuna, only the flags of the two kingdoms are present alongside the tricolore, picture in Futuna with only the two flags of Futuna and the tricolore
video with the flag of Uvéa only (with Tricolore not on the edges of the canton) in the same circumstances

Olivier Touzeau, 26 March 2025

Variant flag of Wallis and Futuna - Image located by Jason Saber, 30 November 2023

This “unofficial variant” was raised for Wallis and Futuna at the 2023 Pacific Games.

Jason Saber, 30 November 2023

A 2:3 ratio flag of the same model can be seen too in military ceremonies in Wallis and Futuna: source [Préfet de Wallis et Futuna Facebook page].

Olivier Touzeau, 28 March 2025

Emblems of Wallis and Futuna

Emblems with the arms of the three kingdoms

Emblems with the arms of the three kingdoms - Images located by Zoltán Horváth, 19 December 2024

The emblem depicts a brown bowl flanked by two coconut palm trees, and a light blue scroll includes symbols of the three kingdoms. The territory name is placed under the emblem. This coat of arms is depicted on a coin issued in 2011 (photo).

I don’t know what letters SPT means in this version (picture in 2006 a stamp).

Zoltán Horváth, 20 December 2024

SPT means Service des postes et télécommunication. It is in fact the emblem of the Postal and telecommunications service of Wallis and Futuna.

Olivier Touzeau, 24 March 2025

Emblem of the gendarmerie commandment of Wallis and Futuna - Image located by Olivier Touzeau, 27 March 2025

It shoud be noted that an an emblem with some similar elements is used by the French Gendarmerie in Wallis and Futuna: a brown bowl and the shields of the three kingdoms can be seen.
Besides, the emblem includes a maps of the islands and the symbol of gendarmerie (stylized grenade). The outer disk is in the French colours and reads "National Gendarmerie - ComGend (Gendarmerie
Commandment) of Wallis and Futuna Islands" (picture on the official Facebook page of Wallis and Futuna gendarmrie commandment).

Olivier Touzeau, 27 March 2025

Unofficial shield of Wallis and Futuna

Unofficial shield of Wallis and Futuna - Image by Zoltán Horváth, 19 December 2024

There is no official CoA for Wallis and Futunas, but there is an unofficial shield based upon the flag.

Chris Southworth, 15 October 2024

The unofficial coat of arms consists of elements from the unofficial flag of Wallis and Futuna featuring a red saltire on a white square, which in turn is placed on a red field (alternatively, a larger white cross pattée is used). The cross is placed on the lower right; the flag of France outlined in white on two sides is in the upper left quadrant.

Zoltán Horváth, 19 December 2024

Unofficial and erroneous representations

Variant flag of Wallis and Futuna - Image by Vincent Morley, 20 July 1997

I have come across a third variant in the 1983 edition of the Grand Dictionnaire Encyclopédique Larousse. The distinguishing features of this version are:

A tricolour canton with a height equal to one quarter that of the flag.
The white square is centred and has a height equal to half that of the flag.

Vincent Morley, 20 July 1997

While researching flags for my chart Flags of Paradise 1996 (Pacific Ocean), I came to the conclusion that the flag of (...) Wallis and Futuna Islands (...) flies both separately and along side the French tricolour [and] is the same basic design as shown in Znamierowski 1999. This flag was introduced in 1985 and therefore included in my chart (albeit a slight variation in design).

Ralph Bartlett, 4 July 2000

Flag representing Wallis and Futuna in Znamierowski 1999 - Image scanned by Jarig Bakker, 4 July 2000
Nota: this flag is a variant of the flag of the Kingdom of Uvéa.