The

national National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

flag of East Timor (

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

: ''Bandeira de Timor-Leste'') is one of the official symbols of

East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-west ...

. It consists of a red field with the black isosceles triangle based on the hoist-side bearing a white five-pointed star in the center superimposed on the larger yellow triangle, also based on the hoist-side, that extends to the center of the flag.

History

The flag of East Timor was adopted in 2002. It is the same as the flag that was originally adopted when the country declared its independence from

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

in 1975, nine days before being invaded by Indonesia. At midnight on 19 May 2002, and during the first moments of Independence Day the next day, the United Nations flag was lowered and the flag of an independent East Timor was raised. Flag of Timor-Leste

As per the

Constitution of East Timor The Constitution of East Timor entered into force on 20 May 2002, and was the country's first constitution after it gained independence from Portugal in 1975 and from Indonesia, which invaded East Timor on 7 December 1975 and left in 1999 followi ...

, the yellow (PMS 123) triangle represents "the traces of

colonialism Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colony, colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose the ...

in East Timor's history". The black triangle represents "the obscurantism that needs to be overcome"; the red (PMS 485) base of the flag represents "the struggle for

national liberation Wars of national liberation or national liberation revolutions are conflicts fought by nations to gain independence. The term is used in conjunction with wars against foreign powers (or at least those perceived as foreign) to establish separat ...

"; the star, or "the light that guides", is white to represent

peace Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...

Official description of the flag

According to the Constitution of the Democratic Republic of East Timor'', Part I, Section 15: :"The national flag is rectangular and is formed by two

isosceles In geometry, an isosceles triangle () is a triangle that has two sides of equal length. Sometimes it is specified as having ''exactly'' two sides of equal length, and sometimes as having ''at least'' two sides of equal length, the latter versio ...

triangles, the bases of which are overlapping. One triangle is black and its height is equal to one-third of the length overlapped to the yellow triangle, whose height is equal to half the length of the Flag. In the centre of the black triangle there is a white star of five ends, meaning the light that guides. The white star has one of its ends turned towards the left side end of the flag. The remaining part of the flag is red."

Historical flags

File:Flag of Portugal (1667).svg, The flag of Portugal, as adopted in 1667, was used in

Portuguese Timor Portuguese Timor ( pt, Timor Português) was a colonial possession of Portugal that existed between 1702 and 1975. During most of this period, Portugal shared the island of Timor with the Dutch East Indies. The first Europeans to arrive in the ...

1702–1707 File:Flag of Portugal (1707).svg, The flag of Portugal, as adopted in 1707, was used in

1707–1750 File:Flag of Portugal (1750).svg, The flag of Portugal, as adopted in 1750, was used in

1750–1816 File:Flag of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil, and the Algarves.svg, The flag of Portugal, as adopted in 1816, was used in

1816–1830 File:Flag of Portugal (1830).svg, The national flag of Portugal, as adopted in 1830, was used in

1830–1910 File:Flag of Portuguese Timor (unoficial).png, Unofficial flag of Portuguese Timor (1942-1945) File:Flag of Portugal.svg, The flag of Portugal, adopted in 1910, was used in

1910–1975 File:Flag of Japan (1870–1999).svg, Flag of Japan used in during Japan's occupation of Portuguese Timor (1942–1945) File:Flag of Portuguese Timor (proposal).svg, 1965 proposal for a flag of Portuguese Timor (never adopted) File:Flag of East Timor (3-2).svg, Flag used following

unilateral declaration of independence A unilateral declaration of independence (UDI) is a formal process leading to the establishment of a new state by a subnational entity which declares itself independent and sovereign without a formal agreement with the state which it is secedin ...

(28 November 1975 – 7 December 1975) File:Flag of Indonesia (physical version).svg,

Flag of Indonesia The Flag of Indonesia is a simple bicolor with two horizontal bands, red (top) and white (bottom) with an overall ratio of 2:3. It was introduced and hoisted in public during the proclamation of independence on 17 August 1945 at 56 Proklamasi ...

used by the

Provisional Government of East Timor The Provisional Government of East Timor (PGET), ( id, Pemerintah Sementara Timor Timur (PSTT), pt, Governo Provisório de Timor Leste), was an Indonesian supported puppet provisional government in present day East Timor that was formed on 17 ...

(1975-1976) during the Indonesian invasion and in Timor Timur province during the subsequent Indonesian occupation (1976-1999) File:Flag of Timor Timur.svg, Provincial flag of

Timor Timur Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western part. The Indonesian part, also ...

(1976–1999) File:Flag of the United Nations.svg, The Flag of the United Nations, used by East Timor under UN administration (1999–2002)

Other flags

Flag of the National Council of Maubere Resistance (CNRT)

A different flag had been suggested by the representatives of the Timorese political parties and organisations during the first East Timorese National Convention held in April 1998 in

. This flag was originally the flag of CNRT (''Conselho Nacional de Resistência Timorense'', National Council of Timorese Resistance). Because of CNRT's popularity, there was a consensus of the participants of the convention to adopt their flag as a temporary flag for East Timor. It was replaced by the former design of 1975 in 2002.

Subnational flags

Some of the

Municipalities of East Timor A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the g ...

have adopted their own flags. File:Flag of Baucau (municipality).png,

Baucau Baucau ( pt, Baucau, tet, Baukau) is the second-largest city in East Timor, after Dili, the capital, which lies to its west. Baucau has about 16,000 inhabitants, and is the capital of Baucau municipality, located in the eastern part of th ...

File:Raeoa.png,

Oecusse Oecusse (also variously ''Oecussi'', ''Ocussi'', ''Oekussi'', ''Oekusi'', ''Okusi'', ''Oé-Cusse''), also known as Oecusse-Ambeno (; ) and formerly just Ambeno, officially the Special Administrative Region Oecusse-Ambeno (), is an exclave, mun ...

References

External links

*
{{Asia topic, Flag of, title=

Flags of Asia This is a gallery of international and national flags used in Asia. Supranational and international flags An incomplete list of flags representing intra-Asian international and supranational organisations, which omits intercontinental organisati ...

National symbols of East Timor

Timor Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western part. The Indonesian part, also ...