Flag of Uruguay

Pabellon Nacional ("National Pavilion", its official name)

Nine horizontal stripes, white and blue in turn, with a white square in the top left corner holding a golden Sun of May with a face and 16 rays.

At a glance

Adopted: July 11, 1830first adopted in December 1828 with more stripes; reduced to nine stripes by the law of 11 July 1830; the sun's face was fixed in 1952
Shape (height : width): 2:3
Capital: Montevideo
Continent: South America
Colours: white
blue
gold

What it means

Nine stripes: said to stand for Uruguay's nine original departments
Sun of May: remembers the May Revolution of 1810 in Buenos Aires, when the region began breaking away from Spain; it also appears on Argentina's flag
Blue and white: taken from the flag of Argentina, showing the shared history of the Rio de la Plata lands

Where it came from

The flag was designed under Joaquin Suarez, the provisional governor, soon after Uruguay became independent in 1828. Its blue and white stripes were inspired by the flag of Argentina, and the striped layout also recalls the flag of the United States.

History

The first version of 1828 had many more stripes. They were so thin and close together that they were hard to tell apart from far away, so a law of 11 July 1830 reduced them to nine.

In 1952 a decree fixed the exact look of the sun's face and its 16 rays, and also made two historical flags official national flags too: the Artigas flag and the flag of the Treinta y Tres.

Fun facts

Uruguay has three official flags, and this one is the most important.
The sun has 16 rays that alternate between triangular and wavy.
The first flag had so many stripes that people could not count them from a distance.
The sun on the flag has a face.

Easy to mix up with

Argentina: Argentina has only three stripes, light blue, white and light blue, with the sun in the middle
Greece: Greece also has nine blue and white stripes, but its corner is blue with a white cross

Questions

What does the flag of Uruguay look like?

Nine horizontal stripes, white and blue in turn, with a white square in the top left corner holding a golden Sun of May with a face and 16 rays.

What do the colours and symbols on the flag of Uruguay mean?

Nine stripes: said to stand for Uruguay's nine original departments; Sun of May: remembers the May Revolution of 1810 in Buenos Aires, when the region began breaking away from Spain; it also appears on Argentina's flag; Blue and white: taken from the flag of Argentina, showing the shared history of the Rio de la Plata lands.

When was the flag of Uruguay adopted?

The current flag of Uruguay was adopted on July 11, 1830. (first adopted in December 1828 with more stripes; reduced to nine stripes by the law of 11 July 1830; the sun's face was fixed in 1952)

What colours are on the flag of Uruguay?

The flag of Uruguay uses white, blue and gold.

Which flag is easy to mix up with the flag of Uruguay?

It is easy to mix up with the flag of Argentina. Argentina has only three stripes, light blue, white and light blue, with the sun in the middle

Famous landmarks in Uruguay

La Mano (Punta del Este)

All about Uruguay →

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