A flag is the symbol of independence, national sovereignty, honor, and the identity of a country. Let’s take a look at the history of Bolivia and the Bolivian flag.
History of the Bolivian flag
Bolivian flag adopted on October 31, 1851, and approved by the decree on July 14, 1888.
The flag consists of three horizontal lines and the same size of red at the top, yellow in the middle, and green at the bottom.
The Bolivian flag is also similar to the Ghanaian flag, except that the Ghanaian flag shows a large five-pointed star in the middle of the yellow stripe. The Bolivian flag ratio is 15:22.
Early flags
Before 1825, Bolivia used a colonial flag. Bolivia had used the Spanish Empire flag from 1506 to 1825.
Bolivia got independence in 1825. And until 1851 before the current flag, used other flags. The first national flag was a flag with two stripes in red and green, and in the middle of red stripes was a yellow star, covered by a green wreath.
In 1825-1826, the flag of Bolivia approved and it was a tricolor flag with, red, green, and yellow stripes in horizontal shape and including a coat of arms in its center, but one star changed to five stars surrounded by a green wreath.
On July 25, 1826, the design of Bolivian changed to a tri-color flag with yellow, red, and green stripes in a horizontal location, and a coat of arms was in its center.
And on November 5, 1851, the yellow, red, green changed to red, yellow, green. The order of stripes changed. During the years the design of the coat of arms changed many times.
Also, for some time, Bolivia and Peru had a united flag. And a confederation arm was in the middle of the flag.
On July 14, 1888, the current flag adopted. But the coat of arms in flag had changed to nine stars and ten stars. The nine stars indicated to the Bolivian’s nine departments and ten stars for the ten territories of Bolivia, but in the war of pacific, Bolivia had lost them to Chile. (the war of pacific 1879-1884).
Current flag
Among the all of countries Bolivia officially has two national flags.
1- Bolivia state flag
The flag consists of three horizontal lines and the same size of red at the top, yellow in the middle, and green at the bottom and a coat of arms are in the middle of yellow stripes.
The proportion of this flag is 15:22. This Bolivian flag name tricolor flag and use in state and war.
2- Bolivia civil flag
The Bolivian civil flag is used in civic, public, and patriotic celebrations. This flag also consists of three horizontal lines and same size of red at the top, yellow in the middle, and green at the bottom and a coat of arms are in the middle of yellow stripes, but this Bolivian flag does not have any coat of arms in the middle of yellow stripes. And this flag has the same proportion which is 15:22.
President Carlos Mesa approved this flag without a shield on July 19, 2004.
Wiphala flag
Although it is not a national flag of Bolivia, after the revision of the Bolivia constitution in 2009, it is a national symbol of Bolivia. it is the flag of some of the native people of the Andes.
The natives are under the flag of Wiphala are natives from Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, Colombia, and some zone of Argentina.
The Wiphala flag consists of 7*7 squares in seven colors. It is not clear who has selected the Wiphala flag for natives of Andes.
The colors of the Wiphala that is seven indicate to rainbow. The seven colors are red, yellow, orange, white, green, blue, and violet.
Here is the meaning of each color
Red represents the Andean man and earth
Yellow represents energy and strength
Orange represents society and culture
White represents time and change
Green represents natural resources and wealth
Blue represents the cosmos
Violet represents the Andean government and self-determination.
State flag and civil flag fly on the right side and the Wiphala flag raised on the left side.
Bolivian naval flag
Although Bolivia is a landlocked country but had a naval flag from 1966 to 2013. The Bolivian flag was a blue flag with ten stars and three red, yellow, and green horizontal stripes.
Flag symbolize
Two national flag uses for Bolivia Bolivian civil flag and States flag. Both flags are tri-color in horizontal stripes, but the difference is in having a national shield. The state flag has a coat of arms while the civil flag does not have.
Similar to any flag, the Bolivian flag’s color symbolize some meaning. Each color represents a meaning
Red: red symbolize the blood of heroes who devote their life for birth and guardianship of the Bolivian republic.
Yellow: it represents resources and wealth.
Green: it represents an abundance of natural sources and also it stands for hope and value of society.
Bolivia Flag Color Codes
Bolivian flag coat of arms
Bolivian coat of arms located in the middle of yellow stripes. Coat of arms of the Bolivian flag contains many items which each of them has a meaning behind them.
A Bolivian flag surrounded a cartouche, muskets, laurel branches, and on the top is an Andean condor. in the borders of the cartouche is ten starts. The stars portray the nine departments of Bolivia and one star represents the previous province Littoral. in the center of the cartouche is mount Potosi.
And there is a tree that an alpaca is standing next to, also there is some wheat. All of this represents the natural resources of Bolivia.
Behind the cartouche is a crossed refile. The cross refiles symbolize the war for independence. There is an ax and Phrygian hood on cartouche that portray freedom and liberty.
And there is a condor perched on the laurel branches, the laurel branches represent peace and the condor shows the passion for defense from country and liberty.
Flag day
17th August is the national flag day in Bolivia. And Bolivian every year celebrate this day and honoring the Bolivian national flags.
Pictures of Bolivian Flag
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About Bolivia
Bolivia, officially the socialist democratic republic of Bolivia is a landlocked country in central South America. Bolivia is bordered by Brazil to the north and east.
Paraguay to the southeast, Argentina to the south and Chile and Peru to the west of Bolivia. Bolivia is the fifth largest country in South America.
Sucre city officially and also in the constitution is the capital of Bolivia, but its government is based in the city of La Paz. The population of Bolivia is 11656000.
The official languages of Bolivia are Spanish, Quechua, Aymara, Guarani, and 34 other languages are indigenous.
The country’s currency is called Bolivia. The system of the Bolivia government is democracy. The area of Bolivia is 1098581 km square.
55% of Bolivians are of Indian descent, 30% are Mestizo (Indian and white hybrids) and 15% are white. The religion of the Bolivian people is Christianity. 78% of Bolivians follow the Roman Catholic church, 16% are protestants and 3% are followers of other Christian denominations.
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History of Bolivia
Bolivia’s history is replete with numerous changes at the helm of the country. Nearly 200 coups and 200 counter-coups have taken place in the country’s history.
Bolivia has been under the Spanish colonization since the 1500s and has been run by foreign forces.
Before European colonization, the present-day region of Bolivia was part of the Inca Indian empire.
The Spanish Empire conquered the region in the 16th century, and during the Spanish colonial period, the land was called ”upper Peru” and was considered part of the viceroyalty of Peru.
After the declaration of independence of this region in 1809, the region faced 16 years of war. The war led to the formation of the Bolivian republic on August 6, 1825. Bolivia’s name has taken from the name of Simon Bolivar, the revolutionary leader of Bolivia.
But with the rise of civilian governments, problems continued in Bolivia, which faced problems such as poverty, social unrest, and drug production.
The Bolivian presidential election was held on December 18, 2005. The two candidates were Juan Ou Morales Aima of the socialist movement party (MAS) and George Guerrero, lead of the social democratic and Democratic party (PODEMOS) and former leader of the national democratic party (AND). Morales won the election.
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