The national flag of Uruguay () is one of the three official flags of

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

along with the flag of Artigas and the flag of the Treinta y Tres. It has a field of nine equal horizontal stripes alternating white and blue. The

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ente ...

is white, charged with the

Sun of May The Sun of May () is a national emblem of Argentina and Uruguay, and appears on the flags of both countries. __TOC__ History According to Diego Abad de Santillán, the Sun of May represents Inti, the Incan god of the sun. The specification ...

, from which 16 rays extend, alternating between triangular and wavy. The flag was first adopted by law on 18 December 1828, and had 19 alternating stripes of white and blue until 11 July 1830, when a new law reduced the number of alternating stripes to nine. The flag was designed by

Joaquín Suárez Joaquín Luis Miguel Suárez de Rondelo (August 18, 1781 in Canelones – December 26, 1868 in Montevideo) was a Uruguayan political figure. Head of State of Uruguay In December 1828, Suárez served as the first head of state of the territ ...

Symbolism and design

The horizontal stripes on the flag represent the nine original

departments of Uruguay Uruguay consists of 19 departments (''departamentos''). Each department has a legislature called a Departmental Board. The ''Intendente'' is the department's chief executive. History The first division of the Republic into six departments occu ...

, based on the U.S. flag, where the stripes represent the original 13 colonies. The first flag designed in 1828 had 9 light blue stripes; this number was reduced to 4 in 1830 due to visibility problems from distance. The stripes of blue and white were inspired by the

flag of Argentina The national flag of the Argentine Republic is a triband (flag), triband, composed of three equally wide horizontal bands coloured light blue and white. There are multiple interpretations on the reasons for those colors. The flag was created by ...

, making the flag of Uruguay part of both the Stars and Stripes and Belgrano

flag families Flag families are sets of national flags with similarities in their design, often based on a shared history, culture, or influence. Families do not include flags with coincidental similarities. Flags may be in multiple flag families. Only twelve c ...

. The golden

represents the

May Revolution The May Revolution ( es, Revolución de Mayo) was a week-long series of events that took place from May 18 to 25, 1810, in Buenos Aires, capital of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. This Spanish colony included roughly the terri ...

of 1810; the Sun of May is a figurative sun that represents

Inti INTI International University & Colleges are private university colleges located in Malaysia. The main campus was initially known as INTI University College until 31 May 2010 when the Higher Education Ministry announced its upgrade to universi ...

, the

sun god A solar deity or sun deity is a deity who represents the Sun, or an aspect of it. Such deities are usually associated with power and strength. Solar deities and Sun worship can be found throughout most of recorded history in various forms. The ...

and mythological founder of the

Incan Empire The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, (Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The admin ...

. It also appears in the

Flag of Argentina The national flag of the Argentine Republic is a triband (flag), triband, composed of three equally wide horizontal bands coloured light blue and white. There are multiple interpretations on the reasons for those colors. The flag was created by ...

and the Coat of Arms of Bolivia.

Colors scheme

The specific color hues of the flag are not officially defined by law, however most representations use the following:

Co-official flags

The National Pavilion shares its official status with two other flags, although it possesses a higher hierarchical position amongst them:

Historical banners

During Spanish rule: Independence from Spain: Flag of

Cisplatina Cisplatina () was a Brazilian province in existence from 1821 to 1828 created by the Luso-Brazilian invasion of the Banda Oriental. From 1815 until 1822 Brazil was a constituent kingdom of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarv ...

, under Portuguese/Brazilian rule between 1821 and 1825: Uruguayan independence:

Historical flags

Variations

During the Great Siege of Montevideo (1843–1851) Uruguay had two parallel governments, with two different flags:

Gallery

Flags of subdivisions

Departments

File:Flag of Artigas Department.svg, Artigas File:Flag of Canelones Department.svg, Canelones File:Flag of Cerro Largo Department.svg, Cerro Largo File:Flag of Colonia Department.svg, Colonia File:Flag of Durazno Department.svg,

Durazno Durazno is the capital city of the department of Durazno in Uruguay. Durazno is characterized by being the most central city of Uruguay. It has a population of more than 30,000 inhabitants. In the past it was the capital of Uruguay; today the ca ...

File:Flag of Flores Department.png,

Flores Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, a group of islands in the eastern half of Indonesia. Including the Komodo Islands off its west coast (but excluding the Solor Archipelago to the east of Flores), the land area is 15,530.58 km2, and th ...

File:Flag of Florida Department.png,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

File:Flag of Lavalleja Department.png,

Lavalleja Lavalleja () is a department of Uruguay. Its capital is Minas. It is located in the southeast of the country, bordered to the north by the department of Treinta y Tres to the east with Rocha, to the south with Canelones and Maldonado, and to ...

File:Flag of Maldonado Department.png, Maldonado File:Flag of Paysandú Department.svg,

Paysandú Paysandú () is the capital of Paysandú Department in western Uruguay. Location The city is located on the banks of the Uruguay River, which forms the border with Argentina. It lies northwest of Montevideo via Route 1 and Route 3, on the ju ...

File:Flag of Rio Negro Department.png, Río Negro File:Flag of Rivera Department.png,

Rivera Rivera () is the capital of Rivera Department of Uruguay. The border with Brazil joins it with the Brazilian city of Santana do Livramento, which is only a street away from it, at the north end of Route 5. Together, they form an urban area of aro ...

File:Flag of Rocha Department.svg,

Rocha Rocha may refer to: * Rocha (surname), a Portuguese surname * Rocha, Moca, Puerto Rico, a barrio in the municipality of Moca, Puerto Rico * Rocha, Rio de Janeiro, a neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil * Rocha, Uruguay, capital city of the Rocha ...

File:Flag of Salto Department.svg, Salto File:Flag of San José Department.svg, San José File:Flag of Soriano Department.svg, Soriano File:Flag of Treinta y Tres Department.svg,

Treinta y Tres Treinta y Tres () is the capital city of the Treinta y Tres Department in eastern Uruguay. Location The city is located on Route 8 (Uruguay), Route 8, on the north banks of Olimar Grande River. The city is almost surrounded by a populated rural ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Uruguay, Flag Of National flags National symbols of Uruguay 1830 establishments in Uruguay