United States Minor Outlying Islands

United States Minor Outlying Islands
Country	United States
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The United States Minor Outlying Islands (USMOI) is a collective name for nine insular areas of the United States, coined by the International Organization for Standardization.

USMOI comprises the Pacific islands of Midway Atoll, Wake Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Palmyra Atoll, Howland Island, Baker Island and Jarvis Island (from north to south), and the Caribbean Navassa Island. Two more Caribbean islands, Serranilla Bank and Bajo Nuevo Bank, are claimed by the U.S. but controlled by Colombia. None of these islands currently have permanent residents.

None of the individual islands have official flags other than the U.S. flag. However, several of them have had flags designed by locally stationed military personnel or federal agency employees. In the early 2000s, National Park Service ranger (and later NAVA vexillonnaire) Skip Wheeler collected existing and new flag designs to represent each island in a flag display at the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. These unofficial flags are documented in a number of articles in NAVA News.

Collective flags

Flag for Howland, Baker and Jarvis, designed by an unknown Fish and Wildlife Service member. Three stars represent the three islands, straddling the equator.

Baker Island

Baker Island proposal for the Dept of the Int' Fish & Wildlife to study the 24/7 effects of harsh environments.

Bikini Atoll

Howland Island

Howland Island - Dept of Int' - Also features Amelia Earhart's plane. Design by Rotten Ali

Jarvis Island

2011 design by Christopher Maddish.

Jarvis Island - Dept of Int'. Features the 1908 wooden marker beacon. Design by Rotten Ali

Johnston Atoll

Design by Cheryl Velk. Winner of a local flag contest while the atoll was under military control. Blue and white represent the ocean and coral, a stylized bird the Air Force and Fish & Wildlife Service, and four stars the four islands.

Kingman Reef

Design by Skip Wheeler. A black fin shark on a bicolour of aquamarine and gray.

Proposal for a better flag for Kingman Reef - Lower stripe is in the color "Coral" to reference the coral reef that forms the upcrop.

Midway Atoll

Design by Fish and Wildlife Service ranger Steve Dryden, unveiled on 4 June 2000. A Laysan albatross on a blue-white-turqoise triband representing sky, beaches and water.

Winner of poll was number 020 - in the style of Tierra del Fuego.

Navassa Island

2001 design by David Billington and Skip Wheeler, depicting the island and its lighthouse.

Palmyra Atoll

A slightly modified version of a design by American soldiers on Palmyra in World War II, depicting a sunrise or sunset as seen from the island.

Study and vote to rescind position of sun, made in about year 2000, such that it again is the same as the flag of WWII as shown in the photo. Voted on and passed, Image version 002 to be used.

Swains Island

Wake Island

Design by S.F. Minon for the US's bicentennial in 1976. The colors represent truth (white), courage (red), justice (sky blue) and loyalty (yellow). The layout references the flag of the Philippines, the country of origin of most contract workers on the island at the time.

Other proposals

American Samoa - Reference Test Item - To be flown in a populated area. One of four. Design by Rotten Ali.

Proposal for a better US South Pole Base flag. By RottenAli

Results of popularity and redesign polls in February 2019 at US State Flags on Facebook.