Ogasawara Village

Ogasawara Islands is Japanese name for Bonin Islands. Japanese people never call them as Bonin because the name was used during the period when they were a U.S. territory. This is a white flag bearing light blue (cerulean blue but not pale sky blue shown on Paradise flags chart [brt06] by the Flag Society of Australia) was adopted June 25 1983 after the islands were returned to Japan by the U.S.A. The disk represents the sun, harmony and progress. There are two child birds and one parent bird in the light blue disc which stand for peace, friendship of the islanders and also the three birds look like a stylized Kanji character of O 小 of Ogasawara. The disc must be placed in the center of the flag but not towards hoist. Nozomi Kariyasu, 17 October 1998, 14 March 1999