Monday, October 10, 2016

Nicaragua Flag History Today

By Adam Spike


Nicaragua, which derives its name from the chief of the area's leading Indian tribe at the time of the Spanish Conquest, was first settled by the Spanish in 1522. The country won independence in 1838. For the next century, Nicaragua's politics were dominated by the competition for power between the Liberals, who were centered in the city of León, and the Conservatives, centered in Granada.

Independence for Central America was first proclaimed on September 15, 1821, but Mexico then subdued the area for two years. The flag of the newly independent United Provinces of Central America was adopted on August 21, 1823, and consisted of blue-white-blue stripes with the national coat of arms in the center.

Those arms included basically the same design elements Nicaragua uses today. Even after the five member states of the federation became independent countries, Nicaragua continued to hoist the old flag. Finally, in 1854, a new horizontal Nicaraguan tricolor of yellow-white-scarlet was chosen, but it did not fly for long. Civil war and intervention by North American filibusters(military adventurers) subsequently resulted in a number of flags being introduced and quickly replaced.

Centered on the white stripe is the coat of arms: a triangle with Nicaragua's volcanoes, a rising sun, the Cap of Liberty, and a rainbow, encircled by the words "Republica de Nicaragua America Central." The sunshine and rainbow represent a positive outlook for Nicaragua's future. The Cap of Liberty, the Phrygian cap, is a symbol of freedom from Ancient Rome. The cap is found on many Central American flags as a symbol of their pursuit of liberty.

The blue-white-blue pattern of the Nicaraguan flag is common to all of the Central American countries. It is a reminder of the United Provinces of Central America. Each of the five member countries found a way to differentiate its flag - for example, Costa Rica put a red stripe in the middle, Nicaragua, and El Salvador put their coats of arms on their flags, Honduras used five stars, and Guatemala turned the stripes vertically. All of the countries gained independence from Spain together on September 15, 1821.

There is a barrage of cheap and inferior Nicaragua flags being imported and sold, that do not comply with the flag statute. This is bad for a number of reasons. Imported flags are cheaply made and more importantly, the designs, materials, colors, and methods of printing do not compare well with the better quality, longer-lasting, and correctly designed flags. The Flag Company Inc specialized in flag designs offered a special edition of decals and flags to memorize the history of Nicaragua flag for the future.




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