Flag of Paraguay

What the flag of Paraguay looks like

The flag of Paraguay has three horizontal bands of equal height: red at the top, white in the middle and blue at the bottom. The proportions are 11:20, which makes it longer than most flags.

The front (obverse) carries the national coat of arms in the middle of the white band. It is a yellow five-pointed star surrounded by a green wreath of palm and olive leaves tied with ribbons in the colors of the stripes. The words República del Paraguay run around it, all within two concentric circles.

The back (reverse) has the treasury seal in the same place: a yellow lion below a red Phrygian cap (a liberty cap) on top of a pole. The motto Paz y Justicia ("Peace and Justice") is written around it. On a flag flown from a pole you will mostly see only one face at a time, so the reverse is easy to miss.

The flag is also shown in a simplified form in the Paraguay flag emoji, where only the colored bands and a small emblem are visible.

Why does Paraguay have a two-sided flag?

Paraguay is the best-known example of a national flag that is officially different on its two sides, and it is often described as the only national flag with a unique design on each side. The difference between the sides comes from the period when José de Francia was in power (1814 to 1840). When Congress unified the flag as a horizontal tricolor on 25 November 1842, it placed the national emblem on the front and the seal of the treasury on the back, and the two sides have differed ever since.

In practice, the national seal side is the one seen most often, on ceremonial flags and on buildings, but the two-sided flag is the official version.

Paraguay flag meaning and symbolism

The red, white and blue are believed to be inspired by the French tricolor, and to signify independence and liberty. Popular readings of the individual colors vary, and they are traditional rather than set out in law. The 2013 statute only says that red and blue must be kept as "primary colours", without admixture with other colors.

The seal on the front represents the independence of Paraguay. On the back, the red Phrygian cap on a pole is described as a symbol of courage, and the words "Peace and Justice" (Paz y Justicia) are the motto of the treasury seal.

History of the Paraguay flag

The first Paraguayan flag was raised in Asunción on 15 May 1811 after the May Revolution. It was a solid blue flag with a white six-pointed star in the canton. Later in 1811 flags with blue, yellow and red stripes were used, and on 15 August 1812 the First Supreme Ruling Junta introduced a red, white and blue tricolor, at first with a wider white stripe. Under José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia a blue flag with a star was restored in 1826 and used alongside the tricolor. On 25 November 1842, when formal declarations of independence were issued, Congress unified the flags as a horizontal red, white and blue tricolor, with the national emblem on the front and the seal of the treasury on the back.

The overall design has stayed the same since 1842 except for the proportions, and the details of the seal were not fixed then. In 2013 President Federico Franco presented a standardized seal (Decree No. 11,400 of 15 July 2013), simplified and closer to its 19th-century forms: the inscription became black on a plain background and the blue circle around the star was removed.

Paraguay flag vs the Netherlands flag

The red, white and blue stripes are in the same order as on the flag of the Netherlands, which is the main reason for confusion. The differences are easy to spot. The Dutch flag has no emblem and has a ratio of 2:3, and its red and blue are slightly different shades. Luxembourg uses the same order with a lighter, sky-blue stripe. Paraguay's emblem in the center and its 11:20 shape set it apart from both.