Society Islands, from Flags of All Nations, Series 2 (N10) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes Brands 1890

This small chromolithograph, made by Allen & Ginter for a series of cigarette cards, depicts the flag of the Society Islands. At first glance, we see red, white, and blue—colors often associated with liberty and revolution, and evocative of colonial flags and trade routes during the late 19th century. However, the arrangement is particularly striking. Red, often a symbol of vitality and power, alternates with white, representing purity or openness, horizontally. This division is not merely decorative; it echoes a deeper psychological tension between assertion and submission. The added blue section calls back to the French flag and, therefore, colonialism, and can be seen as a superimposed, somewhat dissonant element. Consider how flags, throughout history, have acted as visual rallying points, imbued with the hopes, fears, and collective identities of entire peoples. As symbols they endure, their meanings shifting and evolving with the tides of history, revealing our persistent, often subconscious, need for belonging and identity.