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The Flag of Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll

Bikini Atoll is an atoll in one of the Micronesian Islands in the Pacific Ocean, part of Marshall Islands. It consists of 36 islands surrounding a lagoon....
, a member of the Marshall Islands
Marshall Islands

The Marshall Islands , officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands , is a Micronesian island nation in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator....
, is a flag closely resembling the flag of the United States
Flag of the United States

The flag of the United States consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the Flag terminology bearing fifty small, white, Star s arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars alternating with rows of five stars....
 and was adopted in 1987 to remind the people and the government of United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 that the islanders believe that a great debt is still owed to the people of Bikini because in 1954 the United States government detonated a thermonuclear bomb on the island as part of the Bravo test.

23 white stars in the canton of the flag represent the 23 islands of Bikini Atoll.






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The Flag of Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll

Bikini Atoll is an atoll in one of the Micronesian Islands in the Pacific Ocean, part of Marshall Islands. It consists of 36 islands surrounding a lagoon....
, a member of the Marshall Islands
Marshall Islands

The Marshall Islands , officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands , is a Micronesian island nation in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator....
, is a flag closely resembling the flag of the United States
Flag of the United States

The flag of the United States consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the Flag terminology bearing fifty small, white, Star s arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars alternating with rows of five stars....
 and was adopted in 1987 to remind the people and the government of United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 that the islanders believe that a great debt is still owed to the people of Bikini because in 1954 the United States government detonated a thermonuclear bomb on the island as part of the Bravo test.

Design

The 23 white stars in the canton of the flag represent the 23 islands of Bikini Atoll. The three black stars in the upper right represent the three islands that were disfigured in March 1954 during 15-megaton Bravo test by the United States. The two black stars in the lower right corner represent where the Bikinians live now, Kili Island
Kili Island

Kili Island is a 0.93 square kilometer island located in the Pacific Ocean at . It is a member of the Marshall Islands and is located in the Ralik Chain....
, 425 miles to the south of Bikini Atoll, and Ejit Island of Majuro Atoll. These two stars are symbolically far away from Bikini's stars on the flag as the islands are in real life (both in distance and quality of life). The Marshallese language
Marshallese language

The Marshallese language is a Malayo-Polynesian languages of the Marshall Islands. There are two major dialects: R?lik and Ratak ....
 words on the bottom of the flag, "MEN OTEMJEJ REJ ILO BEIN ANIJ," reportedly represent the words spoken in 1946 by the Bikinian leader, Juda, to U.S. Commodore Ben Wyatt
Ben Wyatt

Benjamin Sana Wyatt is an Australian politician. He has been an Australian Labor Party member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly since March 2006, representing the electorate of electoral district of Victoria Park....
 when the American went to Bikini to ask the islanders to give up their islands for the 'good of all mankind' for nuclear weapons testing. It translates as "Everything is in the hands of God."

Symbolism

The similarity to the American flag design and the striking isolation of the 3-star group and the 2-star group represent the belief of the islanders that the Government of the United States still has obligations to their people, including reparations for the nuclear testing and resettlement of the Bikinians that were exiled.

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