The flag of Bougainville is single-coloured blue and shows in the middle a black disk with a white green-jagged border. In the middle of the black disk a stylized depiction of a ritual hat. Blue is the colour of the ocean, green stands for the abundant vegetation, black for the people and their skin colour. The white border represents a special kind of conches which were formerly used on the island as currency. The ritual hat is pulled on by the masculine adolescents if they become incorporated into the rows of the adults.
Bougainville Island is named by Louis Antoine de Bougainville (1729–1811) a French seafarer. He sailed around the world (on the route of Magalhães) between 1766 and 1769 as first Frenchman. During that he discovered in 1768 again the Archipelago of the Solomon Islands. Its position was fallen into oblivion. Bougainville Island is the most northern island of the greater islands of the Archipelago of the Solomon Islands.
