Friday, February 19, 2016

Colombia Flag History

By Guillermo Sanches


Little is known about the various Indian tribes who inhabited Colombia before the Spanish arrived. In 1510, Spaniards founded Darien, the first permanent European settlement on the American mainland. In 1538, they established the colony of New Granada, the area's name until 1861.

In 1812, Simón Bolívar, who was to become the hero of the independence struggle, appeared on the scene. He won six battles against Spanish troops but was defeated by the next year. Spain recovered its throne from Napoleon and then set about reconquering its colonies. The 'pacifying' Spanish troops reconquered the interior and full colonial rule was reestablished by 1817.

The Colombian banner was received on November 26, 1861, making it one of the world's most established flags.The Colombian banner comprises of three level stripes - the top stripe is yellow; the center stripe is blue and the base stripe is red. The yellow stripe is bigger and is half of the width of the banner. The blue and red stripes are every one-quarter of the banner's width.

There is no official meaning of the Colombian flag; however there are two popular theories on the meaning of Colombia's flag's colors. One states that the yellow symbolizes sovereignty and justice; the blue stands for nobility, loyalty, and vigilance; while the red represents valor, honor, generosity and victory through bloodshed.

The second translation expresses the yellow stands for general freedom; the blue for the balance of all races and social classes in the witness of God and the law; and red means fraternity. There is a well known Colombian kids' tune which reverberates - yellow is our gold, blue is our oceans and red are the blood that gave us our freedom.

Others claim that the yellow and red were taken from the flag of Spain, and blue was added to these two colors as a symbol of the sea that separates Colombia and Spain. A curious fact is that the current flag is based on an original model designed in the early nineteenth century by Francisco de Miranda, Venezuelan military, who in turn was inspired by the "Theory of Colours" from the famous German writer and scientist Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, with whom he held a conversation on the issue during a meeting in 1785. Flag Company Inc decided to assist with the history development Colombian Flag by providing special decals and banners to make it easy to build a bit of history right at home.




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