Flag of Uruguay

What the flag of Uruguay looks like

The flag of Uruguay has nine equal horizontal stripes: five white and four blue, starting and ending with white. In the upper hoist corner is a white square called the canton, which holds the Sun of May (Sol de Mayo). The sun is golden yellow and has a human face. It has 16 rays that alternate between straight and wavy ones. The ratio of the flag is 2:3.

The flag is called the Pabellón Nacional (National Pavilion). It is the most important of the three flags that have official status in Uruguay.

You can see its emoji form on the Uruguay flag emoji page, and there are image files on the download page.

Uruguay flag meaning and symbolism

The nine stripes stand for the nine original departments (provinces) of Uruguay. The country has since grown to 19 departments, but the number of stripes has stayed the same. The blue and white stripes were inspired by the flag of Argentina, and the color shades of the flag are not defined by law.

The Sun of May is a symbol of the May Revolution of 1810 in Buenos Aires, which began the independence movement across the former Spanish Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. The words Libertad o Muerte (Liberty or Death) are linked to the independence story, but they appear on the flag of the Treinta y Tres, not on the national flag.

History of the Uruguay flag

In the early 19th century, the territory of Uruguay was known as the Banda Oriental. It was claimed by Spain, then by Portugal and Brazil, and by Buenos Aires. José Gervasio Artigas, the national hero, led a movement for the region's autonomy and introduced a flag in 1814 with blue and white horizontal bands, and from 1815 the main flag of his League had a diagonal red stripe across them. This Flag of Artigas is still one of the official flags of the country.

In 1825 a group known as the Treinta y Tres Orientales (the Thirty-Three Orientals) landed at Agraciada Beach on 19 April 1825 to free the territory from Brazilian rule. They carried a tricolor flag with the words Libertad o Muerte painted in the center. Independence from Brazil was declared soon afterward, and Uruguay was established as an independent state in 1828.

The first national flag, adopted by law in December 1828, had 19 alternating stripes, which proved too many to read from a distance. The law of 11 July 1830 reduced the number to nine, giving the flag its present form. The design is credited to Joaquín Suárez.

Why Uruguay has three flags

Uruguay has three official national flags. The first is the National Pavilion with nine stripes. The second is the Flag of Artigas, with the diagonal red stripe, which honors the country's founding hero. The third is the Flag of the Treinta y Tres, the banner of the 1825 liberation movement. The Flag of Artigas and the flag of the Treinta y Tres were declared official on 18 February 1952. On 19 June each year schoolchildren take the pledge of allegiance to the flag.

Flags that look like the Uruguay flag

The flag looks like the flag of Argentina because both use blue and white stripes and the Sun of May. The Argentine flag has three horizontal stripes in a lighter sky blue, with the sun in the center, while Uruguay's has nine stripes and the sun is in the corner. The reason is shared history: both countries were part of the Spanish Viceroyalty and later fought for independence under the influence of the May Revolution. The flag of Greece also has nine blue and white stripes, but it has a cross in the canton instead of a sun.