A flag tattoo changed the planSourced
Occupiers considered recruiting a chief.
Then they saw the flag on his chest.
Japan occupied the Gilbert Islands, now part of Kiribati, during World War II. According to a 1944 magazine account, its forces considered recruiting high chief Tekinaiti as a collaborator, until they discovered a Union Jack tattooed on his chest and suspected he favored Britain.
A flag under his shirt
changed how they saw him.
Summary / translation: Unbubly · CC BY-SA 4.0
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Tekinaiti · Wikimedia contributors
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Reviewed: 2026-10-01