The Flag of Gran Colombia

Gran Colombia

Gran Colombia is a name used today for the state that encompassed much of northern South America and part of southern Central America from 1819 to 1831. This short-lived republic included the territories of present-day Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Panama, northern Peru and northwest Brazil. The...

was based on Francisco de Miranda

Francisco de Miranda

Sebastián Francisco de Miranda Ravelo y Rodríguez de Espinoza , commonly known as Francisco de Miranda , was a Venezuelan revolutionary...

's tricolour

Tricolour

A tricolour is a flag or banner more-or-less equally divided into three bands of differing colours...

, which served as the national flag of the First Republic of Venezuela. The general design of the Gran Colombian flag served as the model for the current flags of Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

, Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

 and Ecuador

Ecuador

Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...

, which emerged as independent nations at the breakup of Gran Colombia in 1830.

First flag

The first flag was adopted in late 1819. Originally used without arms, the first design of the state flag was based on the Venezuelan flag

Flag of Venezuela

The current flag of Venezuela was introduced in 2006.The basic design includes a horizontal tricolor of yellow, blue, and red, dating to the original flag introduced in 1811, in the Venezuelan War of Independence....

 of 1811. Some variations have the coat of arms in the centre of the flag. This flag was in use officially until 10 January 1820.

Second flag

On 10 January 1820, the Department of Cundinamarca, one of the three official departments of the republic, adopted arms of its own alleging that the arms of the republic were only used in Venezuela. On 12 July 1821, the national congress decreed that the arms of Cundinamarca must be used on the common flag as part of the national coat of arms, until new arms could be decreed. Thus, the departamental flag of Cundinamarca was converted into the national flag of Gran Colombia

Gran Colombia

Gran Colombia is a name used today for the state that encompassed much of northern South America and part of southern Central America from 1819 to 1831. This short-lived republic included the territories of present-day Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Panama, northern Peru and northwest Brazil. The...

, and was officially used in the department of Venezuela. Some variations have the coat of arms in the centre of the flag. It would be the national flag till late 1821.

Third flag

A third flag was adopted in late 1821, with a different coat of arms. Some variations have the writing "Republica de Colombia" around the coat of arms, and others have the coat of arms encircled.

Fourth flag

On 11 July 1822 Guayaquil

Guayaquil

Guayaquil , officially Santiago de Guayaquil , is the largest and the most populous city in Ecuador,with about 2.3 million inhabitants in the city and nearly 3.1 million in the metropolitan area, as well as that nation's main port...

 was incorporated and Gran Colombia reached its largest size. New arms were adopted, and the coat of arms was taken off the flag, and replaced with stars. It had three stars, but was upped to six, then nine, then finally twelve. Some variants had no stars, however. The color of the blue stripe was also changed to the dark blue seen on the flags of its successors. This flag served as the national flag until the country's dissolution in 1830. Some variants have no star.

Later countries

The current Venezuelan flag

Flag of Venezuela

The current flag of Venezuela was introduced in 2006.The basic design includes a horizontal tricolor of yellow, blue, and red, dating to the original flag introduced in 1811, in the Venezuelan War of Independence....

 closely resembles the Gran Colombian flag with stars, while the Colombian flag

Flag of Colombia

After Miranda later designed his flag based on this conversation, he happily recalled seeing a fresco by Lazzaro Tavarone in the Palazzo Belimbau in Genoa that depicted Christopher Columbus unfurling a similar-coloured flag in Veragua during his fourth voyage....

 is similar to the starless variation of the last flag. Ecuador's flag

Flag of Ecuador

The flag of Ecuador, which consists of horizontal bands of yellow , blue and red, was first adopted on September 26, 1860. The design of the current flag was finalized in 1900 with the addition of the coat of arms in the center of the flag. Before using the yellow, blue and red tricolor, Ecuador...

is similar to the earlier flags, only with the darker shade of blue and a centered coat of arms.

External links

• Flags of The World, Gran Colombia