flag

The Colombian National Flag was officially adopted on November 26, 1861, and was designed by Venezuelan General, Francisco de Miranda. One original flag, though, had  yellow and red stripes on top over a tricolor of blue-yellow-red. It also had blue and white stripes that were within a silver border. However, other states and provinces in Colombia had different flags as well, because when rebellion was spreading through the country, each territory claimed independence with a different flag. But in 1834 the stripes were changed officially to vertical, and eight white stars were added in the middle. This didn’t last long though, because in 1861 the government changed the flag again. The stripes were reverted back to horizontal stripes. The yellow stripe was made twice as big as the others, and was placed at the top. Then came blue and followed by red. All other design elements were removed. As for the meaning of the colors, there are different versions and stories that tell them. In one version, the yellow represents sovereignty and justice, the blue represents loyalty and vigilance, and the red represents valor and victory achieved in battle. In the other version the yellow stripe represents the gold that Colombia possessed before they were conquered by the Spanish, the blue represents the country's contact with two different oceans, and the red represents the blood that Colombian’s lost in their struggle for independence against Spain.