Thursday, March 24, 2016

Guatemala National Flag History

By Donald Hopkins


The northernmost of the Central American nations, Guatemala is the size of Tennessee. Its neighbors are Mexico on the north and west, and Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador on the east. Once the site of the impressive ancient Mayan civilization, Guatemala was conquered by Spanish conquistador Pedro de Alvarado in 1524 and became a republic in 1839 after the United Provinces of Central America collapsed.

The first century of Guatemala's independence provides a series of four prime examples of the caudíllo as the classic Latin American dictator. The first is Rafael Carrera, an illiterate mestizo who with the support of the Indians and the rural clergy topples in 1840 the liberal government of Francisco Morazán.

As a feature of the Federal Republic of Central America, Guatemala used a banner with flat groups of blue, white, and blue again from 1825 to 1851. After 1851, the Spanish national hues, red and yellow, were consolidated into the configuration until 1871, when the present banner was picked. The new banner separated itself by using vertical stripes and including the Guatemalan crest, which was embraced in 1868.

The national banner of Guatemala is partitioned into three vertical stripes. The left and right stripes are sky blue, and the center stripe is white. Focused on the white stripe is the nation's crest, which was received in 1968 and incorporates a shield with two crossed rifles and two brilliant swords attached to a shrub crown.

The flag of Guatemala also features the national bird, the Resplendent Quetzal. Its claws hold a scroll with the date of Central American independence from Spain, December 15, 1821. The sky blue bands on each side of the flag show Guatemala's location between the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. White is the traditional color of peace and stands for the noble virtues of honesty and harmony which are cherished in Guatemala. Sky blue and white are the colors originally used by the United Provinces of Central America.

The Quetzal feathered creature stands for the self-governance and independence of Guatemala. The crossed rifles show the readiness to battle to guard the nation against any remote assault, the sword speaks of the respect, and the tree wreath symbolizes triumph. Flag Company Inc decided to assist with the history development by providing special decals and banners to make it easy to build a bit of Guatemala Flag history right at home.




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