The national flag of Costa Rica ( es, Bandera de Costa Rica) 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 A civil flag is a version of the national flag that is flown by civilians on nongovernmental installations or craft. The use of civil flags was more common in the past to denote buildings or ships not crewed by the military. In some countries, t ...

omits the coat of arms seen on the

state flag In vexillology, a state flag is either the flag of the government of a sovereign state, or the flag of an individual federated state (subnational administrative division). Government flag A state flag is a variant of a national flag (or occ ...

, 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 1998.1998 "Smoking" Volcanoes Executive Decree
Accessed 2011-07-19

Colors

Symbolism

The colors of the flag share the ideals of

French Revolution of 1848 The French Revolution of 1848 (french: Révolution française de 1848), also known as the February Revolution (), was a brief period of civil unrest in France, in February 1848, that led to the collapse of the July Monarchy and the foundation ...

: 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 The Captaincy General of Guatemala ( es, Capitanía General de Guatemala), also known as the Kingdom of Guatemala ( es, Reino de Guatemala), was an administrative division of the Spanish Empire, under the viceroyalty of New Spain in Central A ...

, which was nominally part of the

Viceroyalty of New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Amer ...

(i.e.,

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

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

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its predece ...

. 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 ( es, República Federal de Centroamérica), originally named the United Provinces of Central America ( es, Provincias Unidas del Centro de América), and sometimes simply called Central America, in it ...

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

sovereign state A sovereign state or sovereign country, is a political entity represented by one central government that has supreme legitimate authority over territory. International law defines sovereign states as having a permanent population, defined terr ...

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. C ...

, which consisted of the territories of the former

. 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 José María Castro Madriz (1 September 1818 – 4 April 1892) was a Costa Rican lawyer, academic, diplomat, and politician. He served twice as President of Costa Rica, from 1847 to 1849, and from 1866 to 1868. On both occasions he was prevented ...

. An admirer of France (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