Flag of Colombia
 | |
| Name | Tricolor Nacional (National tricolor) |
|---|---|
| Use | National flag and ensign |
| Proportion | 2:3 |
| Adopted | November 26, 1861 |
| Design | A horizontal tricolor of yellow (double-width), blue and red. |
The national flag of Colombia symbolizes Colombian independence from Spain, gained on July 20, 1810.[1] It is a horizontal tricolor of yellow, blue and red. The yellow stripe takes up the top half of the flag and the blue and red take up a quarter of the space each. It is a triband flag with horizontal bands colored yellow, blue and red. Vertically the yellow occupies 50% and the other 50% is shared by the blue and red colors in equal proportion.
National flag and state ensign. Flag ratio: 2:3  Civil ensign. Flag ratio: 2:3 |   Naval ensign. Flag ratio: 2:3 |
Contents
1 Symbolism and design
2 History
3 Past flags
4 Gallery
5 See also
6 References
7 External links
Symbolism and design
Flag of Colombia atop Castillo San Felipe de Barajas in Cartagena, Colombia.
Construction sheet of Colombia national flag.
The horizontal stripes (from top to bottom) of yellow, blue and red tricolor have a ratio of 2:1:1. It—together with that of Ecuador, also derived from the flag of Gran Colombia—is different from most other tricolor flags, either vertical or horizontal, in having stripes which are not equal in size. (Venezuela, whose flag is also derived from the same source, opted for a more conventional tricolor with equal stripes).
The official colors have not yet been established by law. However, it is recommended to use the following:
 Colours scheme | Yellow | Blue | Red |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pantone | 116 | 287 | 186 |
RGB (hex) | 252-209-22 (#FCD116) | 0-56-147 (#003893) | 206-17-38 (#CE1126) |
| CMYK | C0-M17.1-Y91.3-K0 | C100-M61.9-Y0-K42.4 | C0-M91.7-Y81.6-K19.2 |
According to the current interpretation, the colors signify:
Yellow: Represents the riches of the country, the wealth of the Colombian soil, the gold, sovereignty, harmony, justice and agriculture, as well as the Sun, the source of Light.
Blue: represents the seas on Colombia's shores, the rivers that run through, and the sky above.
Red: represents the blood spilled for Colombia's independence and also the effort of Colombian people, the determination and the perseverance. It represents that although Colombia's people have had to struggle they have thrived.
Although, the flag has other representatives such as blue for loyalty and vigilance, red for victory of battles for Colombian independence, and finally yellow for sovereignty and justice.
History
Francisco de Miranda was the person who originally created the common yellow, blue and red flag of Gran Colombia that Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela, with slight variations, share today. Miranda gave at least two sources of inspiration for his flag. In a letter written to Count Simon Romanovich Woronzoff and philosopher Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Miranda described a late-night conversation he had had with Goethe at a party in Weimar during the winter of 1785. Fascinated by Miranda's account of his exploits in the United States Revolutionary War and his travels throughout the Americas and Europe, Goethe told him that, "Your destiny is to create in your land a place where primary colors are not distorted.” He proceeded to clarify what he meant:
| “ | First he explained to me the way the iris transforms light into the three primary colours […] then he proved to me why yellow is the most warm, noble and closest to [white] light; why blue is that mix of excitement and serenity, a distance that evokes shadows; and why red is the exaltation of yellow and blue, the synthesis, the vanishing of light into shadow. It is not that the world is made of yellows, blues and reds; it is that in this manner, as if in an infinite combination of these three colours, we human beings see it. […] A country [Goethe concluded] starts out from a name and a flag, and it then becomes them, just as a man fulfils his destiny. | ” |
After Miranda designed his flag based on this conversation, he recalled seeing a fresco by Lazzaro Tavarone in the Palazzo Belimbau in Genoa that depicted Christopher Columbus unfurling a similar-colored flag in Veragua during his fourth voyage.[2]
In his military diary, Miranda gave another possible source of inspiration: the yellow, blue and red standard of the Burger Guard (Bürgerwache) of Hamburg, which he also saw during his travels in Germany.[3][4]
In the 1801 plan for an army to liberate Spanish America, which he submitted unsuccessfully to the British cabinet, Miranda requested the materials for "ten flags, whose colors shall be red, yellow and blue, in three zones."[5] However, the first flag was not raised until March 12, 1806, in Jacmel, Haiti, during his ill-fated expedition to Venezuela.
Past flags
Provisional flag of the State of New Granada, 1831 – 1834. Flag ratio: 2:3
Flag of the Republic of New Granada and the Granadine Confederation, 1834 – 1861. Flag ratio: 2:3
Flag of the United Provinces of New Granada, 1861. Flag ratio: 2:3
Provisional flag of the State of New Granada, 1831 – 1834. Flag ratio: 2:3
Gallery
Colombian tricolor waving in Bogotá.
Colombian flag hoisted on the ARC Gloria barque, the official flagship of the Colombian Navy.
Colombian tricolor in a colonial building corridor in Cartagena de Indias.
Colombian roller skater celebrating her victory at the youth Olympics with a Colombian flag.
Olympic Champion Caterine Ibargüen celebrating her first world title at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics in Moscow.
See also
- Flag of Gran Colombia
- List of Colombian flags
- ¡Oh, Gloria inmarcesible!
References
^ "Flag and Arms of Colombia". ColombiaInfo.org - The Colombia Information Site!. Retrieved 2018-04-13..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
^ Serpa Erazo, Jorge, [summary of Ricardo Silva Romero's] "La Bandera del Mundo." Pañol de la Historia. Part 1, Section 1 (July 30, 2004). ISSN 1900-3447. Retrieved on 2008-12-02
^ Dousdebés, Pedro Julio, "Las insignias de Colombia," Boletín de historia y antigüedades, August 1937, 462, cited in Nelson González Ortega, "Formación de la iconografía nacional en Colombia: una lectura semiótico-social," Revista de Estudios Colombianos, No. 16 (1996), 20.
^ Miranda, Francisco; Josefina Rodríguez de Alonso; José Luis Salcedo-Bastardo (1983), Colombeia: Segunda sección: El viajero ilustrado, 1787-1788, 4, Caracas: Ediciones de la Presidencia de la República, p. 415, ISBN 84-499-6610-8,April 19:[…] around 5:30 in the evening I had the pleasure of seeing the Burger Guard pass by with flag waving and drums beating, which it does every day at a similar time […] The [officers of the] infantry wore red with a yellow emblem, and the artillery blue with red emblem.
^ Miranda, Francisco; Josefina Rodríguez de Alonso; José Luis Salcedo-Bastardo (1978), Colombeia: Primera parte: Miranda, súbdito español, 1750-1780, 1, Caracas: Ediciones de la Presidencia de la República, p. 80, ISBN 978-84-499-5163-3
External links
 | Wikimedia Commons has media related to Flags of Colombia. |
Colombia at Flags of the World
- Colombian flag history (Spanish)
- Colombian flag history (English)
 National symbols of Colombia | |
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National flags and coats of arms | |
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| National flags |
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| National coats of arms |
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 Heraldry portal | |
