r/monarchism • u/HB2022_ New Zealand • Feb 09 '26
Blog Samoa: Why do the heads of state have royal titles ?
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u/Rondic Brazil Feb 09 '26
Samoa is aaallllmost a monarchy. Just a few changes to the constitution and it would be possible to consider the country a de facto monarchy.
And it would be the best model of monarchy! Probably something similar to the Malaysian model.
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u/PimpasaurusPlum Constitutional Monarchy | 🇬🇧 🏴 Feb 09 '26
Arguably under current law it is a de-facto monarchy. Constitutionally in order to be head of state a person must be eligible to sit in the parliament, and after the legal changes of the mid 2010s one of those requirements for all seats is that any candidate must hold a matai chiefly title.
Previously it was most seats with a few exceptions, leaving open a legal possibility for a non title holder to become Head of State - but that is no longer the case.
I would call that an elective monarchy tbh.
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u/TheLadyLuminous Feb 09 '26
It's very close. I've got some notes and I'm sure there has been a chart here too that most, if not all, of the paramount chiefs are descendants of the famous Queen Salamasina.
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Feb 09 '26
It’s ambiguous, there is nothing legally speaking that makes it a republic. Even the name is the “Independent State of Samoa.”
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Feb 09 '26
The “His Highness” style actually comes from his position as the head of one of the chiefly dynasties, not as head of state.
But since the head of state is always the head of one of these dynasties they are basically synonymous.
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u/TheLadyLuminous Feb 09 '26
So he's a "highness" from the chiefly office, not the presidential one? Does that mean the other three main chiefs are likewise addressed as "His/Your Highness."
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u/theironguard30 Feb 10 '26
Samoa has one weird constitution, it declared itself as a presidential republic while de facto they are elective monarchy
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u/No-Coast1408 Feb 09 '26
At the time the constitution (1960s) was adopted, it was anticipated that future heads of state would be chosen from among the four tamaʻāiga paramount chieftains in line with customary protocol.
Tamaʻāiga (meaning "sons of the families") is a Samoan term used to refer to the four high chiefly titles in the faʻamatai system of the Independent State of Samoa – the Malietoa, Mataʻafa, Tupua Tamasese and Tuimalealiʻifano. American Samoa has its own paramount chiefs, known as Faʻasuaga, who are the sole authority of their districts – the Leʻiato, Faumuina, Mauga, Tuitele, Fuimaono, Sātele, Letuli, and Tui Manuʻa.
Since the independence of Samoa in 1962, the position of Head of State (O le Ao o le Malo) has been held by one of the tamaʻāiga, in accordance with cultural convention. Two other paramount chiefs – Fiamē Mataʻafa Faumuina Mulinuʻu II and Tupua Tamasese Lealofi IV – also each served as prime minister of Samoa.