The national flag of Guatemala, often referred to as "Pabellón Nacional" (literally, "National Flag") or "Azul y Blanco" ("Blue and White") features two colors:

sky blue Sky blue is a shade of light blue comparable to that of a clear daytime sky. The term (as "sky blew") is attested from 1681. A 1585 translation of Nicolas de Nicolay's 1576 ''Les navigations, peregrinations et voyages faicts en la Turquie'' i ...

and

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

. The two

stripes represent the fact that Guatemala is a land located between two oceans, the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

and the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

(

Caribbean sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

); and the sky over the country (see Guatemala's national anthem). The white signifies peace and purity. The blue and white colors, like those of several other countries in the region, are based on the flag of the former

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 ...

. In the center of the flag is the Guatemalan coat of arms. It includes the

resplendent quetzal The resplendent quetzal (''Pharomachrus mocinno'') is a small bird found in southern Mexico and Central America, with two recognized subspecies, ''P. m. mocinno'' and ''P. m. costaricensis''. These animals live in tropical forests, particularly ...

, the national bird of Guatemala that symbolizes

liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

; a

parchment Parchment is a writing material made from specially prepared untanned skins of animals—primarily sheep, calves, and goats. It has been used as a writing medium for over two millennia. Vellum is a finer quality parchment made from the skins o ...

scroll bearing the date of Central America's independence from

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, 15 September 1821; crossed

Remington Remington may refer to: Organizations * Remington Arms, American firearms manufacturer * Remington Rand, American computer manufacturer * Remington Products, American manufacturer of shavers and haircare products * Remington College, American c ...

rifles, indicating Guatemala's willingness to defend itself by force if need be; a

bay laurel ''Laurus nobilis'' is an aromatic evergreen tree or large shrub with green, glabrous (smooth) leaves. It is in the flowering plant family Lauraceae. It is native to the Mediterranean region and is used as bay leaf for seasoning in cookin ...

crown, the symbol for victory; and crossed swords, representing

honor Honour (British English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of social teaching and of personal ethos, that manifests itself as a ...

. It is one of four national flags among

UN member states The United Nations member states are the sovereign states that are members of the United Nations (UN) and have equal representation in the UN General Assembly. The UN is the world's largest intergovernmental organization. The criteria ...

that features a firearm, along with those of

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

, Haiti, and Bolivia. It is one of five national flags that use the ratio 5:8, with the others being

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Palau Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, and Sweden.

History

The

flag was used in Guatemala until 1851, when a pro-Spanish faction took over and added the Spanish colors of red and yellow to the flag. The original colors were restored on 17 August 1871, but as vertical (rather than horizontal) stripes in order to distinguish it from other flags and with a new coat of arms. The resplendent quetzal previously appeared in the 1830s in the flag of Los Altos, the sixth state in the Federal Republic. In 2008 a flag called the ''Bandera de Los Pueblos'' (Flag of indigenous peoples) was adopted by law and is shown together with the national flag of Guatemala in all events featuring the

President of Guatemala The president of Guatemala ( es, Presidente de Guatemala), officially known as the President of the Republic of Guatemala ( es, Presidente de la República de Guatemala), is the head of state and head of government of Guatemala, elected to a s ...

since then. The flag is divided in four parts, red, yellow, white and black, each colour representing

Xinca people The Xinka, or Xinca, are a non-Mayan indigenous people of Mesoamerica, with communities in the southern portion of Guatemala, near its border with El Salvador, and in the mountainous region to the north. Their languages (the Xincan languages) ar ...

Garifuna people The Garifuna people ( or ; pl. Garínagu in Garifuna) are a people of mixed free African and indigenous American ancestry that originated in the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent and speak Garifuna, an Arawakan language, and Vincentian ...

Maya people The Maya peoples () are an ethnolinguistic group of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica. The ancient Maya civilization was formed by members of this group, and today's Maya are generally descended from people ...

, and

Ladino people The Ladino people are a mix of mestizo or Hispanicized peoplesLadino' en el Diccionario de la Real Academia Española (DRAE) in Latin America, principally in Central America. The demonym ''Ladino'' is a Spanish word that is related to '' Latin ...

, respectively.Flags of the World pag
"Guatemala"
, These colours are also part of the ''Qanil'', a Maya symbol in which each color represents a point of the compass, an element of nature and a part of the human being. ''Qanil'' means "seed" in

Mayan languages The Mayan languagesIn linguistics, it is conventional to use ''Mayan'' when referring to the languages, or an aspect of a language. In other academic fields, ''Maya'' is the preferred usage, serving as both a singular and plural noun, and as ...

, and is also one of the 20 days of the

Maya calendar The Maya calendar is a system of calendars used in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica and in many modern communities in the Guatemalan highlands, Veracruz, Oaxaca and Chiapas, Mexico. The essentials of the Maya calendar are based upon a system which had ...

. Aimed at promoting "interculturality" in Guatemala, the ''Bandera de los Pueblos'' was received with disinterest by the leaders of the peoples, who do not seem to have been consulted.Flags of the World pag
"Guatemala"

Ethnic group flags

Government flags

File:Flag of the President of Guatemala.svg, Flag of the

president of Guatemala The president of Guatemala ( es, Presidente de Guatemala), officially known as the President of the Republic of Guatemala ( es, Presidente de la República de Guatemala), is the head of state and head of government of Guatemala, elected to a s ...

File:Flag of the Vice-President of Guatemala.svg, Flag of the

vice president of Guatemala Vice president of Guatemala is a political position in Guatemala which is since 1966 elected concurrently with the position of President of Guatemala. The current Vice President is Guillermo Castillo Reyes. The Vice President needs to be a Gu ...

File:Flag of the President of the Congress of Guatemala.svg, Flag of the

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

of the

Congress of Guatemala The Congress of the Republic ( es, Congreso de la República) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of the Guatemala, Republic of Guatemala. The Guatemalan Congress is made up of 160 Chamber of Deputies, deputies who are elected by univer ...

File:Flag of the President of the Supreme Court of Justice of Guatemala.svg, Flag of the president of the Supreme Court of Justice Guatemala

Military flags

Political flags

Department flags

Historical flags

The Guatemalan flag has changed throughout history, arriving to its current design in 1871.

References

{{nationalflags 1871 introductions National symbols of Guatemala Guatemala Flags displaying animals