The national flag of

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

() is based on a design created in 1848 and consists of two blue stripes, two white stripes, and a central red stripe which is twice as wide as each of the other four. The civil flag omits 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 last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

seen on the state flag, since the state variant is only permitted to be used by the government. The flag was officially adopted on 29 September 1848, with the only modifications since then being to the placement and design of the entrenched coat of arms on the state flag. The state variant of the flag has been updated to reflect concurrent modifications to the national coat of arms in 1906, 1964, and 1998.

Colors

Symbolism

The colors of the flag share the ideals of

French Revolution of 1848 The French Revolution of 1848 (), also known as the February Revolution (), was a period of civil unrest in France, in February 1848, that led to the collapse of the July Monarchy and the foundation of the French Second Republic. It sparked t ...

: freedom, equality, and brotherhood. Blue means the sky, opportunities at reach, intellectual thinking, perseverance to accomplish a goal, infinite, eternity, and ideals of the religious and spiritual desires. White means clear thinking, happiness, wisdom, power and beauty of the sky, the driving force of initiatives to search for new endeavors, and the peace of Costa Rica. Red means “civilization of the century” and the sun casting on Costa Rica the “first rays of its true independence”, the warmth of Costa Rican people, their love to live, their bloodshed for freedom, and their generous attitude. The seven stars in the coat of arms represent the seven provinces of the republic.

History

During most of its colonial period, Costa Rica was the southernmost province of the Captaincy General of Guatemala, which was nominally part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain (i.e.,

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

), but which in practice operated as a largely autonomous entity within the

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy (political entity), Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered ...

. As such, the land of present Costa Rica was covered by the various flags of the Spanish Empire until 1823. Costa Rica was part of the

Federal Republic of Central America The Federal Republic of Central America (), initially known as the United Provinces of Central America (), was a sovereign state in Central America that existed between 1823 and 1839/1841. The republic was composed of five states (Costa Rica ...

(originally known as the "United Provinces of Central America"), a

sovereign state A sovereign state is a State (polity), state that has the highest authority over a territory. It is commonly understood that Sovereignty#Sovereignty and independence, a sovereign state is independent. When referring to a specific polity, the ter ...

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

, which consisted of the territories of the former Captaincy General of Guatemala. A republican democracy, it existed from July 1823 to 1841. During this period, Costa Rica used the flag of the United Provinces of Central America, which took inspiration from the Argentinian flag. It was augmented by variations specific to the State of Costa Rica within the United Provinces of Central America (a blue and white striped United Provinces flag, with the Costa Rican State Seal added). When the Federal Republic of Central America unofficially dissolved by 1841, Costa Rica based its flags on the Central American banner, although the 1840–42 version reversed the stripes to white-blue-white. On 29 September 1848, a distinctive new design was created at the suggestion of Pacífica Fernández Oreamuno, wife of President José María Castro Madriz. An admirer of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

(the scene of revolution in 1848), she recommended the addition of a red stripe to the flag.This basic flag has continued in use since that time. However, the coat of arms that appears on the flag used by the government was altered slightly in 1906 and 1934 and, most recently, on 21 October 1964.

Historical State flags

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Costa Rica

Flag A flag is a piece of textile, fabric (most often rectangular) with distinctive colours and design. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design employed, and fla ...