Guam’s flag has a dark blue field, a thin red border and a central seal.
The territory’s flag uses a marine-blue rectangle edged in narrow red. At its center is the almond-shaped Seal of Guam, showing a proa in Hagåtña Bay, a coconut palm and the island’s name. The seal’s outline evokes a Chamorro sling stone, connecting the modern territorial emblem with Indigenous history.
Helen L. Paul designed the original flag in 1917, and Guam formally adopted it in 1930. The red edging was added in 1948, after the Japanese occupation during World War II. It is commonly explained as recalling bloodshed during the war and earlier Spanish sovereignty.
The Northern Mariana Islands is an easy alternative to confuse with Guam because both are U.S. Pacific territories and both use blue fields. Its flag, however, features a latte stone, a star and a floral wreath rather than Guam’s red-edged field and almond-shaped seal.