The white star on Nauru’s flag represents phosphate, once the island’s major natural resource.
Nauru’s flag was adopted on 31 January 1968, the day the country became independent. Its design places a twelve-pointed white star below a narrow yellow stripe on a blue field. The star’s white color recalls phosphate deposits, which shaped Nauru’s economy and landscape for much of the twentieth century.
The other symbols carry geographic and cultural meanings. The blue field represents the Pacific Ocean, while the yellow stripe represents the Equator; Nauru lies just south of it, at roughly one degree south latitude. The star’s twelve points represent Nauru’s twelve original tribes. Phosphate mining generated substantial wealth but also caused extensive environmental damage, so the symbol reflects both the resource’s importance and its complicated legacy.