The current (and 1978 version of the) Tuvaluan flag is light blue ensign (like that of Fiji), possibly representing the colors of the tropical oceans around the islands. It bears nine stars for the nine islands of the archipelago (although only eight were originally inhabited, hence the name Tuvalu ["eight islands"] in Tuvaluan).
The flag represents a map of the country with nine yellow five-pointed stars symbolizing the nine islands of the nation (Nanumea, Niutao, Nanumanga, Nui, Vaitupu, Nukufetau, Funafuti, Nukulaelae, and Niulakita) The arrangement of the stars reflects the positions of the islands on the map, oriented to the east (east is at the top of the flag instead of the north). In the 1993 legislative elections Paeniu and Puapua, the man who he replaced as prime minister, each received six votes from the newly elected twelve-member parliament. A second round of votes were held in December that year, from which Puapua withdrew, and Kamuta Latasi was elected prime minister.
In 1994 Prime Minister Latasi spearheaded a movement to remove the British Union Jack from the country's flag as a symbolic gesture of independence. In 1995, after conservative French President Jacques Chirac announced his country's intention to conduct above-ground nuclear tests in the South Pacific, Tuvalu emerged as a regional leader in the highly vocal opposition.
In 1995 the flag was replaced by a new one, not based on the British flag and also showing the islands as stars. This flag, however, was not acceptable to the inhabitants of Tuvalu; so, the old flag was re-instated in 1997, with some minor changes as shown at the top of this unit.