The

national flag A national flag is a flag that represents and national symbol, symbolizes a given nation. It is Fly (flag), flown by the government of that nation, but can also be flown by its citizens. A national flag is typically designed with specific meanin ...

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

(), officially known as the National Pavilion (), is one of the three official flags of

along with the Artigas flag and the flag of the Treinta y Tres. It has a field of nine equal horizontal stripes alternating white and blue. The canton is white, charged with the Sun of May, from which 16 rays extend, alternating between triangular and wavy. The flag was first adopted by law on 18 December 1828, and had 19 alternating stripes of white and blue until 11 July 1830, when a new law reduced the number of alternating stripes to nine. The flag was designed by Joaquín Suárez.

Symbolism and design

The horizontal stripes on the flag represent the nine original

departments of Uruguay Uruguay consists of 19 Department (country subdivision), departments (''departamentos''). Each department has a legislature, called a Departmental Board, and a chief executive called an ''Intendant (government official)#Uruguay, Intendente''. ...

, based on the U.S. flag, where the stripes represent the original 13 colonies. The first flag designed in 1828 had 9 light blue stripes; this number was reduced to 4 in 1830 due to visibility problems from distance. These stripes of blue and white were inspired by the

flag of Argentina The national flag of the Argentine Republic, often referred to as the Argentine flag (), is a triband (flag), triband, composed of three equally wide horizontal bands coloured light blue and white. There are multiple interpretations on the reas ...

, making the flag of Uruguay part of both the Stars and Stripes and Belgrano

flag families Flag families are sets of national flag, national and other flags with similarities in their design, often based on a shared history, culture, or influence. Families do not include flags with coincidental similarities. Flags may be in multiple fla ...

. The golden Sun of May represents the

May Revolution The May Revolution () was a week-long series of events that took place from 18 to 25 May 1810, in Buenos Aires, capital of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. This Spanish colony included roughly the territories of present-day Argentina, ...

of 1810; the Sun of May is a figurative sun that represents

Inti Inti is the ancient Inca mythology, Inca solar deity, sun god. He is revered as the national Tutelary deity, patron of the Inca state. Although most consider Inti the sun god, he is more appropriately viewed as a cluster of solar aspects, since t ...

, the sun god and mythological founder of the Incan Empire. It also appears in the

and the coat of arms of Bolivia.

Colors scheme

The specific color hues of the flag are not officially defined by law. However, most representations use the following:

Co-official flags

The National Pavilion shares its official status with two other flags, although it possesses a higher hierarchical position amongst them:

Historical banners

During Spanish rule: Independence from Spain: Flag of Cisplatina, under Portuguese/Brazilian rule between 1821 and 1825: Uruguayan independence and reunification with the United Provinces (1825-1828):

Historical flags

Variations

During the Great Siege of Montevideo (1843–1851) Uruguay had two parallel governments, with two different flags:

Protocol

In accordance with Law No. 9,935 of June 14, 1940, in all public and private educational institutes "the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag will be solemnly performed on June 19." Likewise, Article 28 of the Law No. 9,943, establishes that every natural or legal citizen of Uruguay must take an Pledge of Allegiance to the National Flag. On June 19 of each year, the Promise of Allegiance to the Flag is taken for first-year primary school children and the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag is taken for first-year secondary school children. Public educational institutes that do not carry out the ceremony may be subject to administrative sanctions and private ones may be fined. The lack of the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag carries sanctions such as the impossibility of issuing professional or technical titles, and access to work in the public service.

Gallery

Flags of subdivisions

Departments

File:Flag of Artigas Department.svg, Artigas File:Flag of Canelones Department.svg, Canelones File:Flag of Cerro Largo Department.svg, Cerro Largo File:Flag of Colonia Department.svg, Colonia File:Flag of Durazno Department.svg, Durazno File:Flag of Flores Department.png,

Flores Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, a group of islands in the eastern half of Indonesia. Administratively, it forms the largest island in the East Nusa Tenggara Province. The area is 14,250 km2. Including Komodo and Rinca islands ...

File:Flag of Florida Department.png,

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

File:Flag of Lavalleja Department.png,

Lavalleja Lavalleja (; ) is a Departments of Uruguay, department of Uruguay. Its capital is Minas, Uruguay, Minas. It is located in the southeast of the country, bordered to the north by the department of Treinta y Tres Department, Treinta y Tres to the ea ...

File:Flag of Maldonado Department.png, Maldonado File:Flag of Paysandú Department.svg,

Paysandú Paysandú () is the capital and most populous city of the Paysandú Department in western Uruguay. Located on the banks of the Uruguay River, it is the country's List of cities in Uruguay, fourth-largest city and a vital cultural and economic hu ...

File:Flag of Rio Negro Department.png, Río Negro File:Flag of Rivera Department.png, Rivera File:Flag of Rocha Department.svg, Rocha File:Flag of Salto Department.svg, Salto File:Flag of San José Department.svg, San José File:Flag of Soriano Department.svg, Soriano File:Flag of Treinta y Tres Department.svg, Treinta y Tres

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Uruguay, Flag Of National flags National symbols of Uruguay 1830 establishments in Uruguay

Quadcolor flags Flags displaying a sun