Flag of Guam
The flag of the United States territory of Guam was adopted on February 9, 1948. The territorial flag is dark blue with a narrow red border on all sides (border was a later addition). Narrow red border represents the blood that it ravaged in World War 2 and Spanish sovereignty. In the center of the flag is the coat of arms; an almond shaped emblem, which depicts a proa sailing in Agana Bay near Hagåtña, and "GUAM" colored in red letters. The shape of the emblem recalls the slingshot stones used by the islanders' ancestors. The landform at the back depicts the Punta Dos Amantes cliff on Guam. Charles Alan Pownall approved the flag's shape in 1948.
Postage stamps and postal history of Guam
When the United States Post Office Department (USPOD) took charge of the postal service of Guam in March 1901, the local population, soldiers from the US Navy base and indigenous Chamorros, had to use US stamps without any distinctive marks. Since 1901, only a Guam town cancellation indicates domestic posting. This situation is common to others insular unincorporated territories of the United States, such as, Northern Mariana Islands since 1944, Virgin Islands since 1917, Puerto Rico since 1900 and American Samoa since 1899. The existence of a local post at the beginning of the 1930s and the Japan occupation periods were exceptions.