Crown of Tonga time, Tonga also adopted a national flag, a coat-of-arms and a national anthem. The first king to be crowned with the historic crown was King George Tupou II, the great-grandson and successor Tupou. Tupou II was crowned on 17 March 1893. His daughter and successor Queen Sālote Tupou III was crowned on 11 October 1918. Queen Sālote was succeeded by her eldest son, who became King Tāufa'āhau Tupou IV. He was crowned on his 49th birthday, 4 July 1967. King Tāufa'āhau was succeed by his eldest son, who became King George Tupou V. He was crowned on 1 August 2008.
Tupou VI included peacekeeping operations in Bougainville. He graduated with a masters in Defence Studies from the University of New South Wales in 1997 and with an MA in International Relations from Bond University in 1999. In 1998 he ended his military career to become part of the government, first as the defence minister and the foreign minister at the same time, from October 1998 until August 2004. He took over these posts from his elder brother Tupoutoʻa, at that time still the crown prince, later to become King Siaosi Tupou V (see below). Soon he was appointed as Prime Minister on