The short-lived municipality that declared independence around Port Vila in 1889 was Franceville.
Franceville arose on Efate, then commonly called Sandwich Island, in the New Hebrides. The territory was a neutral zone under loose Anglo-French oversight, but the joint administration provided little ordinary civil government. French settlers wanted a municipality that could handle matters such as marriages and local legal affairs.
On 9 August 1889, Franceville declared itself an independent commune. Ferdinand-Albert Chevillard became its elected mayor or president, and the community adopted a red, white and blue flag with five stars. The experiment was brief: it ended in June 1890.
Franceville is easily confused with later colonial names or other Pacific ports. It was not Noumea, Levuka or Port-de-France; it was established at the site of present-day Port Vila, before the Anglo-French condominium was formally created in 1906.