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Tonga Customs flag

2:3? image by Željko Heimer, 4 April 2003

Description of the flag
Quarantine flag

See also:

Tonga

Description of the Flag

Upper half of the flag is blue (with the same canton as the state flag) and the lower half is white with letters "H.M.C." (His Majesty's Customs) in black. Proportions 42:72. The same design (with different writing) is used by other departments and institutions. Source: Pedersen 1973 [ped73].
Marcus Wendel, 15 September 1999

Blue flag with white stripe along the bottom containing black letters HMC, and in a white canton a red cross as in the national flag. Ratio 2:3. In no source it is clear whether this is a flag hoisted somewhere else on the vessel, or if it is an ensign. Apparently, the flag was abandoned some time after World War Two. Source for the image: Flaggenbuch (1939). It also appears in National Geographic (1917) so it was used at least since 1910's to 1940's, though probably also earlier and later.
Željko Heimer, 4 April 2003

Pedersen 1971 shows this flag as 42:72 (i.e., 7:12)
James Dignan, 15 February 2004

As described above, this flag seems to be still a legal one, mentioned in the Customs and Excise Act (1988 Revised Edition - http://legislation.to/Tonga/DATA/PRIN/1988-067/CustomsandExciseAct.pdf, pages 72-73), where the size is prescribed "no less then 120 by 60 cm".
Željko Heimer, 5 February 2012

The latest versions of the Customs Act issued in 2016 and the Customs and Excise Management Act issued in 2016 don’t mention any Customs Ensign or flag.

Customs Act 2016: https://tonga.tradeportal.org/media/CustomsAct.pdf
Customs and Excise Management Act 2016: https://tonga.tradeportal.org/media/CustomsandExciseManagementAct_2_2.pdf

The status of the Customs flag is uncertain, probably it is not used any more.
Zoltan Horvath, 27 November 2024

Quarantine flag

image by Zoltan Horvath, 27 November 2024

Another unusual ensign is mentioned in the Tonga legislation - the Quarantine Ensign for Launches: Quarantine Regulations, CAP. 77A, 26 Feb 1926, 1988 Revised Edition, p. 24, http://legislation.to/Tonga/DATA/SUB/1988-077-06/QuarantineRegulations.pdf.

QUARANTINE ENSIGN FOR LAUNCHES
70. Launches while on quarantine duty shall fly the quarantine ensign. The quarantine ensign shall have the upper half red, the lower half yellow and the letters M. O. H. in blue in the centre of the flag.
Željko Heimer, 5 February 2012

This flag seems to be still a legal one, it is defined in Quarantine Act revised in 1988: https://ago.gov.to/cms/images/LEGISLATION/SUBORDINATE/1942/1942-0361/QuarantineRegulations_1.pdf

Zoltan Horvath, 27 November 2024