The flag of

Gran Colombia Gran Colombia (, "Great Colombia"), or Greater Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia ( Spanish: ''República de Colombia''), was a state that encompassed much of northern South America and part of southern Central America from 1819 to ...

was based on

Francisco de Miranda Sebastián Francisco de Miranda y Rodríguez de Espinoza (28 March 1750 – 14 July 1816), commonly known as Francisco de Miranda (), was a Venezuelan military leader and revolutionary. Although his own plans for the independence of the Spani ...

tricolour A tricolour () or tricolor () is a type of flag or banner design with a triband design which originated in the 16th century as a symbol of republicanism, liberty, or revolution. The flags of France, Italy, Romania, Mexico, and Ireland wer ...

, which served as the national flag of the

First Republic of Venezuela The First Republic of Venezuela ( es, Primera República de Venezuela) was the first independent government of Venezuela, lasting from 5 July 1811, to 25 July 1812. The period of the First Republic began with the overthrow of the Spanish colonial ...

. The general design of the Gran Colombian flag later served as the model for the current flags of

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Cari ...

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar language, Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechuan ...

, and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

, which emerged as independent nations at the breakup of Gran Colombia in 1831.

Flags

File:Flag of the Gran Colombia (1819-1820).svg, First flag of Gran Colombia, 1819–1820. Stripe ratios 2:1:1 File:Flag of the Gran Colombia (1820-1821).svg, Second Flag of Gran Colombia 1820–1821. Stripe ratios 2:1:1 File:Flag of the Gran Colombia.svg, Third Flag of Gran Colombia 1821–1830. Stripe ratios 1:1:1 File:Flag of Gran Colombia (1822 Proposal).svg, Proposed fourth Flag of Gran Colombia 1822.

First flag

The first flag was adopted in late 1819. Originally used without arms, the first design of the state flag was based on the Venezuelan flag of 1811. Some variations have the

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

in the centre of the flag. This flag was in use officially until 10 January 1820.

Second flag

On 10 January 1820, the Department of Cundinamarca, one of the three official departments of the republic, adopted arms of its own alleging that the arms of the republic were only used in Venezuela. On 12 July 1821, the national congress decreed that the arms of Cundinamarca must be used on the common flag as part of the national coat of arms until new arms could be decreed. Thus, the departmental flag of Cundinamarca was converted into the national flag of

and was officially used in the department of Venezuela. Some variations have the coat of arms in the centre of the flag. It would be the national flag until late 1821.

Third flag

A third flag was adopted in late 1821, with a different coat of arms. Some variations have the writing "''Republica de Colombia''" around the coat of arms, and others have the coat of arms encircled. This flag served as the national flag until the country's dissolution in 1830.

Proposed fourth flag

On 11 July 1822,

Guayaquil , motto = Por Guayaquil Independiente en, For Independent Guayaquil , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Ecuador#South America , pushpin_re ...

was incorporated and Gran Colombia reached its largest size. New arms were adopted, and the coat of arms was taken off the flag, and replaced with stars. It had three stars, but was upped to six, then nine, then finally twelve. Some variants had no stars, however. The color of the blue stripe was also changed to the dark blue seen on the flags of its successors. Some variants have no star.

Later countries

File:Flag of Colombia.svg,

File:Flag of Ecuador.svg,

File:Flag of Venezuela.svg,

The Colombian flag is similar to the first Grand Colombian flag, without the coat of arms. The Ecuadorian flag is similar to the Colombian flag, only with the lighter shade of yellow, blue and red, and a centered coat of arms. The Venezuelan flag resembles the Ecuadorian and Colombian flags, but with equal tricolor bands and 8 stars forming an arch.

External links

Flags of The World
Gran Colombia {{DEFAULTSORT:Great Colombia Flags of Colombia Historical flags Flags of Venezuela Flags of Ecuador Gran Colombia Obsolete national flags