Guam Seal and Flag
Dates back to 1917
The Guam seal is an oval outlined in red that tapers and comes to two pointed ends. This shape is in reference to the ancient Chamorro sling stone, a weapon skillfully wielded by the ancient Chamorros. Included in the seal are the Hagåtña River which empties into the sea; the sandy mouth of the river and surrounding beach graced by a lone coconut palm, an important means of sustenance to the Chamorro people; and a flying proa, the chief means of transportation for early Chamorros. The distant cliff along the horizon references Two Lover’s Point, or Puntan Dos Amantes, named for the legend of a forbidden romance between two lovers who rather than be separated, tied their hair together and leapt off this point into the sea. These specific aspects of Chamorro culture symbolize the courage, perseverance and prowess of the Chamorro people. “Guam” is printed across the middle of the seal in bold red letters.
The colors of the Guam seal are as follows: the sky is light blue, the ocean is medium blue, the palm tree is green and brown, the beach is yellow, the cliff is green, the canoe is brown with a white sail and the lettering is red.
The seal is the centerpiece of the Guam flag. The flag itself is a deep blue trimmed on all sides by a red border.
Today Guam flies this flag together with the flag of the United States. However, until 1917, Guam did not have its own flag, rather the flag of Spain was raised until 1898 and later the U.S. flag was raised over the island.
The original inspiration for the design of the Guam seal is disputed today. The three most likely inspirations, however, are the works of local artist Francisco Feja, a photograph from former Governor Robert E. Coontz’s collection from 1912, and sketches by Helen Paul, wife of Commander Carrol E. Paul.
According to the papers of Anita M. Elvidge, wife of Ford Q. Elvidge- appointed civilian governor of Guam from 1953 to 1956, due to popular demand for an island flag in 1917 a design by Helen Paul, wife of Commander Carrrol E. Paul, CEC was approved and recorded in Washington D.C. by Naval Governor Roy C. Smith.
Helen Paul made many sketches of Guam including one which depicted a lone coconut palm on a beach at the old mouth of the Hagåtña River backed by the sea, a distant cliff and a flying proa. According to the papers of Anita M. Elvidge:
... that sketch was copied by students in the home economics class of Mrs. Lillian Nagal, wife of Marine sergeant Nagal, and was made into the first island flag of Guam.
On July 4, 1918 this flag was raised at ceremonies for a fair held in Hagåtña.
In a July 1930 edition of the Guam Recorder, a monthly magazine under the direction of the Naval Government of Guam from March 1924 until the Japanese occupation, an order signed by Governor of Guam Willis W. Bradley, Jr. was printed and reads:
Order effective this date, the official seal of the Naval Government of Guam will be shown on the plan of the Guam flag approved July 4, 1917, by Governor Roy C. Smith, and now filed in the office of the Auditor-Registrar…
Another order signed by Governor Willis W. Bradley, Jr. printed in Guam Recorder, no. 71, May 12, 1931 reads:
1 The flag shown on the “Plan of Guam Flag,” approved July 4, 1917, by Roy C. Smith, Governor of Guam, and now on file in the Department of Records and Accounts, is hereby designated as the Island Flag of Guam.
2 The Island Flag adopted by this order consists of a dark blue field having the seal of Guam, adopted by Executive Order no. 18, of 4 April 1930, superimposed on both sides of the flag.
In 1945 and 1946, the Guam Attorney General and the National Geographic Society of Washington D.C. corresponded extensively regarding the color, size and manufacture of the Guam flag and seal and in July 1946 National Geographic magazine published a color reproduction of “Seals of Our Nation, States and Territories.”
By 1948 the inclusion of a red border on the flag is documented. Details of the flag including references to a deep red border two inches in width are documented in Guam Congress Bill no. 12 approved by Naval Governor C.A. Pownall on February 9, 1948 which was enacted by the House of the Assembly and the House of Council of Guam Congress and was included in the Civil Regulations. Chapter VI-A entitled, “Territorial Flag of Guam” Section 1 reads:
The official territorial flag of Guam shall consist of a rectangular field of marine blue seventy-eight inches long and forty inches wide, trimmed on all sides with a border of deep red two inches in width and having in its center the Guam Coat of Arms (a two-pointed oval scene twenty-four inches high and sixteen inches wide, which portrays an ancient flying proa (canoe) about to make a landing on the beach near a lone palm tree). The colors of the Guam Coat of Arms shall be as follows: yellow which represents the sand; brown, the tree trunk and canoe; gray, the distant flat-topped mountain; red, the letters GUAM emblazoned across the coat of Arms. Any deviation from the dimensions as stated herein shall be increased or decreased proportionately.
The bill also outlines the way in which the flag was to be flown together with the United States flag. It stated that if the territorial flag of Guam was flown on a single staff, it should be flown below the flag of the United States. It also stated that when the flag was flown with the United States flag other than on a single staff, it should be displayed either below or to the left of the flag of the United States. According to section seven of the bill no one was required to give a pledge of allegiance to the territorial flag of Guam.
Judge Jose C. Manibusan was delegated to have the first post-war flag of Guam made.
Records show that on September 10, 1950, Public Order 33 of the Guam Congress, “An Act to provide an Official Seal for Guam,” was approved by Naval Governor C.A. Pownall and it approximates the one on the approved Guam flag of 1917.
While the early Guam seal could be found on official documents and orders, it was also used on the doors and sides of the governor’s car and barge. For a short period of time, Governor Bradley also used the seal for Guam guard-mail stamps which are now rare collectors’ items.
The lieutenant governor of Guam is the official keeper of the seal.