Flag of Peru

TheFlag of Peru(Spanish:Bandera del Perú), often referred to asThe Bicolour(la Bicolor), was adopted by thegovernment of Peruin 1825, and modified in 1950. According to the article 49 of theConstitution of Peru,it is a verticaltribandwith red outer bands and a single white middle band.Depending on its use, it may bedefacedwith different emblems, and has different names.Flag dayin Peru is celebrated on 7 June, the anniversary of theBattle of Arica.

Peru

Bandera nacional ('National Flag') El pendón bicolor ('The Bicolor Banner') La enseña nacional ('The national ensign')
Use	Civil flagandensign
Proportion	2:3
Adopted	25 February 1825(1825-02-25)(current triband version) 31 March 1950(1950-03-31)(current version)
Design	A verticaltribandof red (hoist-side and fly-side) and white.
Designed by	José de San Martín José Bernardo de Tagle Simón Bolívar
Pabellón nacional ('National Pavilion')
Use	State flag,stateandnaval ensign
Proportion	2:3
Adopted	31 March 1950(1950-03-31)
Design	A verticaltribandof red (hoist-side and fly-side) and white with the National Coat of Arms centered on the white band.
Bara de proa(Naval jack of Peru)
Proportion	1:1
Design	A red square with the white square in the center bearing theCoat of Arms (Escudo de Armas)in the center.

Design and symbolism

Coat of arms

Main article:Coat of arms of Peru

Meaning of the colors

Red represents the blood that was spilled by the fallen freedom fighters that fought for the independence of the country. White represents purity and peace. However, the colours are also linked to theChilean flamingo,orparihuana,a red and white type of flamingo that General San Martín dreamed about during the revolution.

Color approximations

The current colors of the Peruvian flag were taken of the design ofSan MartínandTorre Tagle.The reasons why red and white were chosen are unknown.

Official tones determined by Peruvian laws do not exist. However, there are some particular initiatives in approximated equivalents in multiple color models, some in tones close tocrimson.

	Red	White
RGB	217-16-35	255-255-255
Hexadecimal	#D91023	#FFFFFF
CMYK	0, 93, 84, 15	0, 0, 1, 0
Pantone	485 C	White

At official level, the governmental communications have used diverse shades of red.

Construction sheet.

Variants

Civil flag

Thecivil flagor ensign (bandera nacional) is used by citizens. It has no additions to the common form. It was changed several times; before 1950 it looked like the current national flag and was used as both the civil and the state flag, when GeneralManuel A. Odríaremoved the coat of arms from the flag and created the state and war flags. The Civil flag lackscoat of arms.

State flag

Thestate flag(pabellón nacional), used by state institutions, is marked with thecoat of arms(Escudo de Armas). It is used during ceremonies in which the National Flag is hoisted in the presence of spectators (as opposed to a static, permanent flag). A form of this flag, the national standard (estandarte nacional) is used indoors by official and private institutions. It is used for theGovernment Palace,theUnited Nations,etc. It is also used by thePeru national football team.

War flag

Thewar flag(bandera de guerra), similar to the state flag, is marked with thenational shield(Escudo Nacional). It is flown by thePeruvian militaryand nationalpoliceand is typically inscribed with the service, name and number of the unit flying it.

Naval jack

Thenaval jack(bandera de proa) is not based on the triband. It is a square flag, consisting of a white square with the coat of arms (Escudo de Armas) on a red field. It is used on warships, usually with the ensign of the highest-ranking officer on board above it.

History

Main article:Flags of Peru

Proposed flag of 1820

Flag hoisted by Admiral Miller in October 1820.

During theViceroyalty of Peru,the colonial-eraSpanish flagflew over Peru. In 1820, during the struggle for independence,British-bornGeneral William Millerhoisted inTacnathe first flag that represented the emerging country. Though the original flag itself is now lost, it was described asnavy bluewith a golden sun in the center representingInti.

Flag of 1820

First republican flag, created by General José de San Martín.

The first flag of theRepublic of Peruwas created by GeneralJosé de San Martín,and officially decreed on 21 October 1820. It is diagonally quartered, with white upper and lower fields, and the others red. The flag was defaced with an oval-shapedlaurel crownin the center, surrounding a sun rising behind mountains by the sea. The symbolism of the flag's colors is uncertain, but according to Peruvian authorAbraham Valdelomar,San Martín, having arrived on the coast of southernPisco,was inspired by the colors ofparihuanas,red-and-whiteflamingos.Historians of the early Peruvian Republic, such as Leguía y Martínez and Pareja Paz Soldán,give a different explanation, suggesting that San Martín took the red from theflag of Chileand the white from theflag of Argentina,recognizing the provenance of the men of the liberation army. Historian Jorge Fernández Stoll thinks in 1820 San Martin was in favor of aconstitutional monarchy,and he chose to use monarchical symbols and colors: Castile used the red and white colors for many years, the old flag of the viceroyalty thecross of Burgundywas red and white and the flag's diagonal lines mimicked the cross shape, the red color was the royal symbol of themascaipachaof Inca kings and of the ensign of theSpanish kingat that time.The flag proved difficult to adopt due to its complex construction; without standardized measurements in place at the time, a triangular flag proved difficult to build.

Flag of March 1822

Second design, by Torre Tagle.

In March 1822,José Bernardo de Tagle,Marquis of Torre Tagle and Supreme Delegate of the Republic, who replaced San Martín provisionally when the latter traveled toGuayaquil,decreed a new design for the flag. This consisted of a horizontal triband, with a white band between two red ones, and a goldenIntiat the center, similar to the flag of Argentina. This modification was justified, according to Torre Tagle, by the inconvenience in the construction of the previous version, among other issues.

A problem came up on the battlefields: the resemblance with theSpanish flag,especially from far away, made the distinction between the armies difficult, which led to a new change to the flag.

Flag of May 1822

Third design.

On 31 May 1822, Torre Tagle changed the flag's design again. The new version was a vertical triband, with red outer bands and a white middle band, with a golden sun representingIntiat the center.

Flag of 1825

Fourth flag, created in 1825.

On 25 February 1825, duringSimón Bolívar's administration, the Constituent Congress changed the design of the flag by promulgating the law of national symbols. The fundamental change was the image of the sun for the brand new coat of arms, designed by José Gregorio Paredes and Francisco Javier Cortés.

In this way, the flag was definitely constituted by two vertical bands of red at the ends and white at the center, with the coat of arms at the center of the middle band.

Flags of the Peru-Bolivian Confederation era, 1836–1839

Flag of thePeru–Bolivian Confederation,1836–1839.

Flag of theRepublic of South Peru,1836–1839.

From 1836 to 1839, Peru was temporarily dissolved into the Republics ofSouth PeruandNorth Peru,which joinedBoliviato form thePeru–Bolivian Confederation.

The South was formed first, thus adopting a new flag: a red vertical band on the left, with a golden sun and four small stars above (representingArequipa,Ayacucho,CuzcoandPuno,the four groups of the republic), and the right side divided into an upper green band and a lower white one. The North kept the currency and all of the dissolved Peru, including its flag.

The flag of the Peru-Bolivian Confederation showed the coats of arms of Bolivia, South and North Peru, from left to right and slanted at different angles, on a red field, adorned by alaurel crown.Another version of the flag of the confederacy is offered by Flags of the World (https:// crwflags /fotw/flags/xi_pb.html.

After the dissolution of the Confederation, the old Republic of Peru was restored to its 1836 composition, as were its national symbols.

Flag of 1884

Fifth flag, created in 1884.

After theWar of the Pacific,the coat of arms in the flag was slightly altered to represent the territory lost after theTreaty of Ancón.

Flag of 1950

In 1950,PresidentOdríamodified the national flag to its current form, removing the coat of arms from the civil flag, since it was usedde facto,being easier to make. The national ensign and war flag were created for exclusive uses, each with a variant of the coat of arms, which was also changed slightly. These remain as the official flags today.

TheMarcha de Banderas

TheMarcha de Banderas(Spanish:March of Flags) is a military march sung during the flag raising. It was created in 1897 bySMJose Sabas Libornio Ibarra who said PresidentNicolás de Piérola,he disagreed with the indiscriminate interpretation of theNational Anthemat all official events that were derived from civic events. In December of that year was officially recognized to be executed in any official act.

Arriba, arriba, arriba el Perú y su enseña gloriosa inmortal, llevad en alto siempre la bandera nacional. Tal la llevaron con gloria y honor, héroes peruanos de invencible ardor. Arriba, arriba siempre la banderanacional. Es la bandera del Perú, de blanco y rojo color, cual llamarada de amor, que en Ayacucho y en Junín victoriosa amaneció con el sol de la Libertad Todo peruano ha de sentir, vibrar en su corazon amor al patrio pendón, y bajo sus pliegues luchar, y si fuera menester por sus lauros y honor morir.

Long live, long live, long live Peru and its glorious immortal ensign, always carry aloft the national flag. They carried it thusly, with glory and honor, Peruvian heroes with invincible ardor. Going up, always up, the national flag. This is the flag of Peru, of white and red in color, as a flame of love, which inAyacuchoandJunín it dawned victorious with the Sun ofLiberty Every Peruvian shall feel in his heart vibrating, the love for the national flag and fight under its folds, and if ever needed for its laurels and honor, die.

In all occasions today the song is sung in its entirety, formerly during the presidency of Alan Garcia only the first 3 were sung.

See also

• List of flags of Peru
• Coat of arms of Peru
• National Anthem of Peru
• Great Military Parade (Peru)
• Flag of Canada
• Flag of Austria,similar design with horizontal stripes

Further reading

• Garfias Dávila, Marcos (2005).Origen de los Símbolos Patrios(PDF)(in Spanish). Lima:Municipalidad Metropolitana de Lima.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 14 February 2007.

External links

• PeruatFlags of the World
• Peruvian flag history
• Peru Flag at FlagscornerArchived30 November 2018 at theWayback Machine