King of the Belgians from 1865, son of Leopold I. He financed the US journalist Henry Stanley's explorations in Africa, which resulted in the foundation of the Congo Free State (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), from which he extracted a huge fortune by ruthless exploitation.
Blue stands for the Pacific Ocean. The yellow stripe represents the Equator. The points of the star symbolize the island's 12 original tribes. Effective date: 31 January 1968.