The Flag of Palau was adopted on January 1, 1981. When the island group separated from the United Nations Trust Territory it adopted this flag. In common with other Pacific island groups, blue is the colour used to represent the ocean and the nation's place within it. Whilst this puts Palau in common with the Federated States of Micronesia and other neighboring island groups, the off-centre disc on the flag is similar to that of the flag of Bangladesh (and also to the flag of Japan), but in this case represents the moon instead of the sun.