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New Caledonia (France): Territorial Olympic and Sports Committee

Comité territorial olympique et sportif de Nouvelle-Calédonie

Presentation of the CTOS
The kagu emblem
Flags used by Team New Caledonia in Pacific Games and Pacific Mini Games
Flags used by New Caledonian athlets in Pacific Games and Pacific Mini Games

See also:

Presentation of the CTOS

The Congress of New Caledonia adopted on 16 October 2001 Decision #251 on sport in New Caledonia. This followed the adoption on 19 March 1999 of modified Organic Law 99/209 on New Caledonia. The Decision says:

Title IV. On the Territorial Olympic and Sports Commitee Article 19. The Territorial Olympic and Sports Commitee is the official representative organ of the sports movement of New Caledonia, made of the sports associations and leagues. [...]
Article 20. The Territorial Olympic and Sports Commitee is member of the French National Olympic and Sports Committee (Comité national olympique et sportif français).[...]

Ivan Sache, 27 March 2006

The kagu emblem

New Caledonian sports flags usually feature a local bird name kagu.

There are 197 species of birds recorded in New Caledonia, among which 23 are endemic, that is not found anywhere else in the wild. The International Union for Nature Conservation (UICN) has listed 17 endemic forest birds of New Caledonia on the Red List of endangered species, which includes 1,211 bird species worldwide. The most famous of them and the emblematic bird of New Caledonia is the kagu (IUCN record).
The kagu (Rhynochetos jubatus) is the only member of the genus Rhynochetos, which is the only member of the family Rhynochetidae. It was trapped by the Melanesians, and later by the Europeans, for pet and plume trade. The bird retreated to the interior of the island, where its habitat was destroyed by nickel mining. The species is now threatened by feral dogs and pigs; predation by cats and rats is not documented. The kagu has full legal protection since 1977. It is believed than less than 1,000 kagus still live in New Caledonia, mostly in the South Province.
Most scientific publications on kagu were made by Dr. Gavin Hunt, now with the Department of Psychology of the University of Auckland, New Zeland and working on tool-making ability in New Caledonian crows. Dr. Hunt worked on bird conservation in New Caledonia from 1991 to 1995 and defended in 1997 in Massey University his Ph.D. thesis entitled, Ecology and conservation of the Kagu Rhynochetos jubatus of New Caledonia (text)
Hunt wrote the chapter on kagu in two references books:
Hunt, G.R. (2002). Kagu. In Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia, Vol. 10: Birds. Gale Publishing Group, Farmington Hills, MI (text).
Hunt, G.R. (1996). Rhynochetidae (Kagu). Pp. 218-225 In (Eds. del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. and Sargatal, J.) Handbook of the Birds of the World, Vol. 3. Hoatzin to Auks. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

Ivan Sache, 23 November 2009

Flags used by Team New Caledonia in Pacific Games and Pacific Mini Games

These flags were used in the opening ceremonies of the corresponding games, flying in every single case jointly with the French Tricolore. They were also raised during medal ceremonies, below the French Tricolore.
Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán, 13 July 2011

2011

Flag and emblem of Team New Caledonia, 2011 - Images by Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán, 13 July 2011

These symbols were used in the 2011 Pacific Games held in Nouméa (New Caledonia). It seems that the emblem and the flag were adopted in 2011.
Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán, 13 July 2011

2007-2009

Flag of Team New Caledonia, 2007-2009 - Image by Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán, 13 July 2011

The sports magazine Club Calédonie, October 2009, shows color photos of the New Caledonian sports flag used in the Pacific Mini Games 2009, held in Rarotonga (Cook Islands).
The flag is vertically divided gray-red-gray with a kagu and the five Olympic rings in the white stripe.
The flag was also used in the Pacific Games 2007, held in Apia (Samoa).
Ivan Sache & Nozomi Karyasu & Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán, 13 July 2011

2003-2005

Flag of Team New Caledonia, 2003-2005 - Image by Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán, 13 July 2011

This flag was used during the 2003 Pacific Games held in Suva (Fiji) and the 2005 Pacific Mini Games held in Koror (Palau).
Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán, 13 July 2011

1997-2001

Flag of Team New Caledonia, 1997-2001 - Image by Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán, 13 July 2011

This flag was used during the 1997 Pacific Mini Games held in Pago Pago (American Samoa) and the 2001 Pacific Mini Games held in Kingston (Norfolk Island)
The flag was probably also used in the 1999 Pacific Games, held in Guam.

French flag and pennant of Team New Caledonia, 2003-2005 (left) and close-up of the pennant (right) - Images by Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán, 30 March 2002

The flag was also used as a pennant flying below the French Tricolore.
Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán, 13 July 2011

1991

Flags of Team New Caledonia, 1991 - Images by Kazutaka Nishiura, 23 November 2009

The book L'épopée du sport en Nouvelle-Calédonie, published in September 2000, shows the New Caledonian sports flag from 1991 as vertically divided white-red-white with an orange kagu over the Olympic rings.
Nozomi Karyasu, 23 November 2009

Flags used by New Caledonian athletes in Pacific Games and Pacific Mini Games

Flags used by athlets, two versions
Left, image by António Martins, 29 July 2017;
Right, image by António Martins, 4 October 2017

This flag used to be carried by New Caledonian athletes in several competitions during medal ceremonies and celebrations is the French Tricolore charged with an stylized kagou bird centered in the white stripe. Unlike the other flags, this one is not used during the nations parade at opening-closing ceremonies, and it is not raised during medal ceremonies, it is only used by athletes.
On this flag, the kagu was reported either as red (L'épopée du sport en Nouvelle-Calédonie, 1991) or black.
Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán & Nozomi Karyasu, 13 July 2011