But he said it was "deeply moving" to see the way Fijians rallied around the flag after their Olympic victory in rugby sevens.

"While I remain convinced personally that we need to replace some of the flag's colonial symbols ... the flag should not be changed in the foreseeable future," he said.

Bainimarama said it was a time to reset national priorities as Fiji continues to recover from the battering it took from Cyclone Winston earlier in the year.