Flèche faîtière

A flèche faîtière is a carved rooftop spear or spire or finial that adorns Kanak houses, particularly the Great Houses of the Kanak Chiefs, in New Caledonia. The ceremonial carving is the home of ancestral spirits and is characterized by three major components. The ancestor is symbolized by a flat, crowned face in the centre of the spear. The ancestor's voice is symbolized by a long, rounded pole that is run through by conch shells. The symbolic connection of the clan, through the chief, is a base, which is planted into the case's central pole. Sharply pointed wood pieces fan out from either end of the central area, symbolically preventing bad spirits from being able to reach the ancestor. It evokes, beyond a particular ancestor, the community of ancestors. The flèche faîtière was depicted on a 2007 New Caledonian stamp.

Flèche is a general architectural term for "spire". It is used to define a small but tall post that is fixed at the crossing of the nave and transepts in cathedrals and large churches. ‘Flèche faîtière’ means "carved roof top spear", which adorns the 'grande case' or the "Great Hut" of the Chief of a Kanak clan.

The flèche faîtière is wood sculpture that represents the spirit of Kanak culture, which resembles a small totem pole. As it represented the power of the clan Chiefs of Kanaks over their subjects, it was adopted as part of the flag of the Kanaks by the organization leading the independent movement in New Caledonia. The Grand Huts also known as grande case (chef's hut) are decorated with a flèche faîtière as a filial, representing the ancestral spirits, symbolic of transition between the world of the dead and the world of the living.

The arrow or the spear normally has a needle at the end to insert threaded shells from bottom to top; one of the shells contains arrangements to ensure protection of the house and the country. During wars enemies attacked this symbolic finial. After the death of a Kanak chief, over whose Great House the flèche faîtière is fixed, it is removed and his family takes it to their home. Though it was allowed to be used again as a sign of respect, it is normally kept at burial grounds of noted citizens or at the mounds of abandoned grand houses.

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