Introduction
The flag of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands is a blue field with the French tricolour in the canton and, in the lower fly, the letters TAAF above five white stars arranged as the Southern Cross.
Meaning & Symbolism
TAAF stands for Terres australes et antarctiques françaises. The Southern Cross places the territory in the far southern ocean, and the blue is the sea that surrounds every part of it.
The territory has five districts: the Crozet Islands, Kerguelen, Saint Paul and Amsterdam, Adélie Land in Antarctica, and the scattered islands of the Indian Ocean.
History of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands Flag
The flag has been in use since 2007. It has no official status in French law, which recognises only the national tricolour, so this is a territorial emblem rather than a flag in the legal sense.
There is no permanent population. Between one hundred and three hundred people live there at any time, all scientists, support staff and military personnel on rotation.
Curiosities
- It has no legal status: French law recognises only the tricolour, so this is an emblem rather than an official flag.
- Nobody lives there permanently, only rotating scientists and support staff.
- The territory includes Adélie Land in Antarctica, where the French claim is frozen by the Antarctic Treaty.
- TAAF stands for Terres australes et antarctiques françaises.
- Kerguelen is known as the Desolation Islands, and the nearest inhabited land is over three thousand kilometres away.
Download Flag
Download the flag of French Southern and Antarctic Lands in high-quality SVG vector format or PNG raster images. SVG files can be scaled to any size without losing quality.
Digital icon artwork; its proportions may differ from the official flag proportions listed on this page.