flag of Colombia

Local opposition to Spanish rule in what is now Colombia began on July 20, 1810, at Bogotá. Rebellion soon spread to Cartagena, the Cauca valley, and Antioquia. Each area proclaimed independence under a separate flag—horizontal stripes of yellow over red, a tricolour of blue-yellow-red, blue and white stripes within a silver border, and others. The victory of “The Liberator,” Simón Bolívar, at the Battle of Boyacá on August 7, 1819, assured the independence of Colombia, and in December of that year Colombia adopted as its national flag the horizontal tricolour of yellow, blue, and red under which Bolívar fought.

In 1834 the stripes were changed from horizontal to vertical, and a white eight-pointed star was added in the centre. Subsequently coats of arms appeared on the flag for specific official purposes. The present national flag was established when the government reverted to the horizontal yellow-blue-red on December 10, 1861. In doing so, however, it made the yellow stripe twice the width of either of the other stripes. Provision was made for distinctive symbols in the centre of the flag for such purposes as identification of the diplomatic service, navy ships, privately owned vessels, and the armed forces. Essentially the same symbols had already been in use for half a century, but the exact artistic rendition had varied from one regime to the next in reaction to the changing political landscape.