Paraguay, flag of

▪ Flag History

      horizontally striped red-white-blue national flag. It is distinctive among national flags in having a central coat of arms (arms, coat of) on the obverse side but a different seal on the reverse. The flag's width-to-length ratio is 3 to 5.

      Isolated from much of the rest of Spanish-dominated South America, Paraguay developed a unique flag design. The earliest known emblem (c. 1812) of local independence was based on the Spanish flag (Spain, flag of); it had red-yellow-blue stripes with a coat of arms. Later the colour blue was used in two quite different flags—one of equal horizontal stripes of blue and yellow, the other a plain blue flag with a white star. Under the dictatorship of José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia (Francia, José Gaspar Rodríguez de) (1814–40), an admirer of Napoleon, the French colours (France, flag of) were adopted and arranged horizontally red-white-blue. The central emblem was the national coat of arms—a golden star surrounded by a wreath and the words “República del Paraguay” (“Republic of Paraguay”). After the death of Francia, the first known flag law of Paraguay was adopted (November 27, 1842), confirming this design as the national flag. On the reverse side, however, the seal of the treasury replaced the national coat of arms. The treasury seal features a lion sitting beneath a liberty cap mounted on a staff; it is framed by the national motto, “Paz y justicia” (“Peace and justice”). Although the same basic design has been in use since 1842, there have been many modifications in the artistic rendition of the coat of arms and treasury seal.

Whitney Smith

 

* * *