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Rimatara (Austral Islands, French Polynesia)

Flag of Rimatara - Images by Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán, 24 December 2008
Left, as seen at the headquarters of the Tahitian Football Federation, 2006
Right, after a picture taken during the opening ceremony of the Inter-Austral Islands Games, 2000

Presentation of Rimatara
Flag of Rimatara
Rimatara, 19th century

See also:

Presentation of Rimatara

Quoting the website of the Presidency of French Polynesia (page no longer online):

The high island of Rimatara is the furthest west of all the Austral Islands. It is located at 29º39'S by 152º49'. Rimatara covers an area of 8.6 square kilometers. Its tallest point is Mt. Uahu (83m).
Rimatara has a small, very fertile and wooded volcanic plateau surrounded by a fringing reef that rises 8-10 meters high, much like Rurutu.

Rimatara was one of the last islands to welcome its first European visitor. That honor went to Captain Samuel Pinder Henry, who spotted the island in 1811 and dropped off two native missionary teachers in 1821. That led to the creation of a Protestant mission. France established a protectorate on Rimatara in 1889 and annexed the island in 1900.

Female parrots, which, it is said, cannot be exported, are found on Rimatara. There also is an abundance of wild ducks in the marshes.
The 1996 census set the island's population at 929. These people, who essentially earn a living from food crops, are divided up among three villages. They are Amaru, the island's main village (pop. 322), Anapoto (pop. 273) and Mutuaura (pop. 334).

Ivan Sache, 21 August 2005

Flag of Rimatara

The flag of Rimatara, as seen at the headquarters of the Tahitian Football Federation in 2006, is horizontally divided red-white-red with the red cross from the historical flag in the white stripe and the name of the island written in white capital letters in the red stripe.

The flag of Rimatara, as seen during the opening ceremony of the Inter-Austral Island Games in 2000, is horizontally divided red-white-red with the name of the island written in red capital letters in the white stripe.

Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán & Ivan Sache, 24 December 2008

Rimatara, 19th century

Flags of Rimatara in the 19th century - Images by Ivan Sache, 21 August 2005
Left, 1856-1891;
Right, 1891-1900.

According to the Flags of Paradise chart [brt96], the old flag of Rimatara (1856-1891, that is before and short after the establishment of the French Protectorate) is horizontally divided red-white-red with in the red stripe a red cross made of four triangles.
The flag of the Protectorate of Rimatara (Protectorate 1889-1900; flag dated 1891-1900) has the French national flag added in canton.

Ivan Sache, 21 August 2005