Flag of Ecuador
Proportion | 2:3 |
---|---|
Adopted | 26 September 1860 (present ratio, November 2009–present) |
Design | A horizontal tricolor of yellow (double width), blue and red with the National Coat of Arms superimposed at the center. |
Use | Civil flag and ensign |
Proportion | 2:3 |
Design | A horizontal tricolor of yellow (double width), blue and red. |
The national flag of Ecuador, which consists of horizontal bands of yellow (double width), blue and red, was first adopted by law in 1835 and later on 26 September 1860. The design of the current flag was finalized in 1900 with the addition of the
Design
The Ecuadorian National Secretariat of Communication (Secretaría Nacional de Comunicación) issued regulations describing the applications and proportions of the national flag, coat of arms, and other national symbols in November 2009.[citation needed]
The national flag has a length of 2.20 meters and a width of 1.47 m, a ratio of 2 to 3. The field is split into three horizontal colored bands, a yellow band of one-half the flag's width, a blue band of one-quarter the width, and a red band of one-quarter the width. All three bands extend the full length of the flag. The flag is charged with the Ecuadorian coat of arms scaled to one-half the width of the flag and centered in the field.
Coat of arms
In the background of the oval
The condor on top of the shield stretches his wings to symbolize power, greatness and strength of Ecuador. The condor also represents the idea that it will always be ready to attack any enemy. The shield is flanked by four national flags. The laurel on the left represents the victories of the republic.[5] The palm leaf on the right side is a symbol of the martyrs of the fight for independence and liberty. The Fasces below the shield represents the republican dignity. The final design of the coat of arms was completed in 1900.[6]
In the 1989 specifications issued to the Ecuadorian Military, the coat of arms has only eight colors that are used on the flag. The eight colors are yellow, blue, red (all from the national flag), sky blue, green, grey, silver and gold.[7] There is also a nine piece instruction on how to draw the coat of arms,[8] followed by a full color drawing and a black and white drawing of the arms.[9] No size specifications have been laid out for the coat of arms except for when it is used on the national flag.[2]
Symbolism
Miranda ascribed the colours he chose for his flag to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's theory of primary colours. In a letter written to Count Semyon Romanovich Vorontsov in 1792, Miranda described a late-night conversation which he had with Goethe at a party in Weimar, Germany during the winter of 1785. Fascinated with Miranda's account of his exploits in the American Revolutionary War and his travels throughout the Americas and Europe, Goethe told him that, "Your destiny is to create in your land a place where primary colours are not distorted.” He proceeded to clarify what he meant:
First he explained to me the way the iris transforms the light into the three primary colours... then he said, "Why yellow is the most warm, noble and closest to the bright light; why Blue is that mix of excitement and serenity, so far that it evokes the shadows; and why Red is the exaltation of Yellow and Blue, the synthesis, the vanishing of the bright light into the shadows".[10]
The first time the yellow, blue and red flag was flown by Miranda was in 1806 on the ship Leander when trying to face the Spanish forces off of the coast of Jacmel, Haiti.[11] The colors of the modern Ecuadorian flag evolved from those of the flag of the nation of Gran Colombia, which encompassed the territories of modern-day Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela. The colors have the following meanings:
- Yellow: The crops and the fertile soil.
- Blue: The ocean and the clear skies
- Red: The blood spilled by the heroes who died in the name of their countrymen's Fatherland and Freedom.[4][6]
Colours scheme |
Yellow | Blue | Red |
---|---|---|---|
RGB |
255-221-0 | 3-78-162 | 237-28-36 |
HEX |
#ffdd00 | #034ea2 | #ed1c24 |
CMYK |
0-13-100-0 | 98-52-0-36 | 0-88-85-7 |
History
This section needs additional citations for verification. (September 2020) |
After the territory of Ecuador was conquered by
The first calls for independence from the Spanish crown came on 10 August 1809; a plain red flag was flown by the rebels.
Gabriel García Moreno, upon assuming power two days after the Battle of Guayaquil in September 1860, the yellow, blue and red triband was returned to use; its reinstatement on 26 September is commemorated as Día de la Bandera, or National Flag Day in English.[12][14] Previously, a vertical white, blue and white flag was used. In the middle of the blue stripe, there were white stars placed to signify the number of provinces in Ecuador. The highest star total was seven before this flag was abandoned.[13] In 1900, the flag was made the definitive national standard, and was charged with the coat of arms for official national government use while the plain flag was reserved for the merchant marine.[15]
Spanish Colonial Flag 1534–1820 |
The Cross of Burgundy flag of the Spanish colonial empire flew over Ecuador for many years. | |
Flag of the Quiteñan Revolution 1809–1812 |
The leaders of a rebellion against the Spanish authorities raised a reversed Cross of Burgundy flag in Quito on 10 August 1809. The uprising was defeated in 1812. | |
First National Flag 1820–1822 |
A flag with five horizontal stripes and three stars in the middle stripe. This flag subsequently became that of the Guayas Province, and was first raised by the patriots in the liberation of 9 October 1820. | |
Second National Flag 1822 |
The previous flag was changed by decree of 2 June 1822: "The flag of the free province of Guayaquil shall be white and its first quarter blue with a centered star." | |
Third National Flag 1822–1830 |
Ecuador was subsumed into Gran Colombia, during which time the Colombian horizontal tricolour became definitive. Although Ecuador seceded from that union in 1830, the flag was retained until 1845. | |
Fourth National Flag 1830–1835 |
Provisional flag of the State of Ecuador, decreed on 19 November 1830. | |
Fifth National Flag 1835–1845 |
First flag used officially by Ecuador after its separation from Gran Colombia. | |
Sixth National Flag 1845 |
During the 1845 Marcist Revolution the pale blue and white colours return, but as a vertical tricolour of white, blue, white, with three white stars in the central stripe.
| |
Seventh National Flag 1845–1860 |
The Cuenca Convention ratified, by decree of 6 November 1845, a change to a deeper blue, and the increase in the number of stars to seven "as symbols of the seven provinces which make up the Republic".[16] | |
Eighth National Flag 1860–1900 |
Gabriel García Moreno, upon assuming power two days after the Battle of Guayaquil, reinstated the tricolor flag of Greater Colombia on 26 September 1860. In 1900, the flag was made the definitive national standard, and the coat of arms was added for official state use. The plain flag was established as the merchant ensign in 1900. | |
Ninth National Flag 1900–2009 |
The flag from 31 October 1900. In 1900, the flag was made the definitive national standard, and the coat of arms was added for official state use. The plain flag was established as the merchant ensign in 1900, with a modification in November 2009. | |
Tenth National Flag 2009–present |
Current national flag |
Pledge and hymn
Students and military cadets in Ecuador are required to recite a pledge to the flag, known as the "Juramento a la Bandera" or "Pledge to the Flag." This pledge is usually stated during national holiday or important school functions, such as graduations.[17] There is also a patriotic song called the "Himno a la Bandera" ("Hymn to the Flag") that is after the "Juramento a la Bandera" or before flag retirement ceremonies.[18]
Variants
According to Registro Oficial No. 1272, a decree signed into law on 5 December 1900, there are two official designs of the national flag. Article Two established the national banner as the tricolor with the yellow stripe doubling the size of the blue and red stripes. Article Three establishes the national flag charged with the
Derivatives
Palestina Canton uses the national flag on their flag. Placed in the canton, the Ecuador flag is shown with three even stripes, while the rest of the flag is colored olive green. The use of the Ecuador flag was described by the Palestina government as "unity with the motherland" and olive green represents progress.[24] Loja Province adopted a flag in 1963 that copied the design of the national flag. This was done by the creator of the flag to show his "honor and admiration" to the homeland.[25] Another province, Napo, chose their flag that copied the design of the national flag without the coat of arms. The only modification that was performed was to put a white strip between the blue and yellow.[26]
Resemblance to other flags
The flags of Ecuador,
As of 2006, the Ecuadoran flag still shares some similarity with the flags of Colombia and Venezuela. All three flags use the yellow, blue and red tricolor, but that is where the similarities end. In a decree passed in Colombia in 1934, the ratio of the stripes were set at 2:1:1 and the flag ratio was set at 2:3, similar to the present Ecuador flag. However, the coat of arms is only changed in the middle of the flag when it is used by government officials or by military forces.[28] For Venezuela, the basic design was to have all three strips even vertically, unlike those of Colombia and Ecuador. Since 1863, Venezuela decided to change their flag with white stars instead of a coat of arms. A coat of arms was added to the national flag in 1954, then changed again in 2006 to add another star and alter the coat of arms. The position of the coat of arms on the Venezuelan flag also differs from Ecuador and Colombia by placing the arms at the very top hoist (left) side of the flag instead of in the center.[29]
See also
References
Notes
- ^ a b Instructivo de uso de los Símbolos Patrios
- ^ a b c Norma Que Establece Los Requisitos de Diseno, Caracteristicas de Confeccion y Modo de Empleo de Los Emblemas Patrios, pp. Annex A.
- ^ Norma Que Establece Los Requisitos de Diseno, Caracteristicas de Confeccion y Modo de Empleo de Los Emblemas Patrios, pp. 6.1
- ^ a b "The Flag and The Coat of Arms". Embassy of the Republic of Ecuador in the United States. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
- ^ Other descriptions attribute it to the symbolism of the glory of the heroes of independence.
- ^ a b "Símbolos Patrios" (in Spanish). Presidencia de la República del Ecuador. Archived from the original on 17 July 2010. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
- ^ Norma Que Establece Los Requisitos de Diseno, Caracteristicas de Confeccion y Modo de Empleo de Los Emblemas Patrios, pp. Annex E.
- ^ Norma Que Establece Los Requisitos de Diseno, Caracteristicas de Confeccion y Modo de Empleo de Los Emblemas Patrios, pp. Annex C.
- ^ Norma Que Establece Los Requisitos de Diseno, Caracteristicas de Confeccion y Modo de Empleo de Los Emblemas Patrios, pp. Annex D.
- ^ Serpa Erazo, Jorge, Pañol de la Historia. Part 1, Section 1 (July 30, 2004). ISSN 1900-3447 (which is itself a summary of Ricardo Silva Romero's "La Bandera del Mundo."). Retrieved on 2008-12-02
- ^ Isabel Cerón, María (12 March 2005). "La Bandera Nacional" (in Spanish). Ministerio del Poder Popular para la Comunicación y la Información (Venezuela). Retrieved 2 August 2010.
- ^ a b c Alfredo Andaluz Prado, José (26 September 2007). "Historia de nuestra bandera". Diario Correo (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 22 August 2008. Retrieved 28 July 2010.
- ^ a b c MDN Regulations 2006, pp. 28.
- ^ "Ecuadorian community in New York celebrates the National Flag Day". Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
- ^ a b c Decree of 5 December 1900
- ^ Volker Preuß. "Flaggen del Ekuador 1845–1860" (in German). Retrieved 28 April 2003.
- ^ "Tradiciones Militares — Juramento a la Bandera" (in Spanish). Ministry of National Defense of Ecuador. Archived from the original on 15 June 2010. Retrieved 28 July 2010.
- ^ "Tradiciones Militares — Incineración de la Bandera" (in Spanish). Ministry of National Defense of Ecuador. Archived from the original on 18 April 2009. Retrieved 28 July 2010.
- ^ "Ceremonial de la Bandera" (in Spanish). City of Santo Tome. 2009. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
- ^ D.L. 11323 del 31 de Marzo de 1950
- ^ "Bandera Nacional" (in Spanish). Ministry of Defense of Bolivia. Archived from the original on 13 March 2010. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
- ^ "Historia de la Bandera" (in Spanish). Vice President of the Republic of Colombia. 2008. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
- ^ "Evolución Histórica de la Bandera Nacional" (in Spanish). President of the Bolivar Republic of Venezuela. 2006. Archived from the original on 17 July 2009. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
- ^ "Símbolos" (in Spanish). Canton of Palestina. 27 October 2005. Archived from the original on 23 December 2008. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
- ^ "Bandera" (in Spanish). Tourism Loja. Archived from the original on 16 July 2010. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
- ^ "Provincia de Napo" (in Spanish). Centros de Investigación del Exterior. 2008. Retrieved 26 July 2010.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Rodríguez, Roberto (July 2001). "LA BANDERA COLOMBIANA". Credencial Historia (in Spanish). Biblioteca Virtual del Banco de la República. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
- ^ "HISTORIA DE LA BANDERA" (in Spanish). President of the Republic of Colombia. 2006. Archived from the original on 22 May 2011. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
- ^ "Evolución Histórica de la Bandera Nacional" (in Spanish). President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. 2006. Archived from the original on 17 July 2009. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
Legislation
- Norma Que Establece Los Requisitos de Diseno, Caracteristicas de Confeccion y Modo de Empleo de Los Emblemas Patrios [Standards Regarding the Requisitioning, Characteristics and Employing the National Symbols] (in Spanish). Military of Ecuador. 1989.
- Regulations of Protocol and Military Ceremonies (in Spanish). Ministry of National Defense, Armed Forces of Ecuador. 2006.
- "Instructivo de uso de los Símbolos Patrios" [Instructions and Use of the National Symbols] (PDF) (in Spanish). National Secretary of Communication. November 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 22 July 2010.
External links
- Ecuador at Flags of the World
- (in Spanish)