If something is tortuous it is full of twists and turns or long and complicated: We climbed the tortuous path up the hill; The negotiations for the release of the hostages were protracted and tortuous. If a thing is torturous it relates to torture: Families of the trapped men waited in torturous silence for news.
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.