The flag of Colombia
The flag of Colombia
A yellow band filling the top half, with equal blue and red bands below it. No emblem.
Ratio 2:3 · current design adopted 1861
Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador all descend from the flag of Gran Colombia, designed by Francisco de Miranda in 1806, which is why the three are so easily mixed up. Colombia's is the simplest of the three: no coat of arms at all, and a yellow band twice the height of the other two. The 2:1:1 band proportion is the fastest way to identify it, because Ecuador uses the same proportions but adds an elaborate coat of arms. Miranda said he took the colours from a conversation with Goethe about primary colours, a story he told himself and which nobody has been able to verify.
Flags it gets confused with
| Flag | How to tell them apart |
|---|---|
| Ecuador | Ecuador has the same bands and proportions plus a large coat of arms with a condor and Mount Chimborazo. |
| Venezuela | Venezuela's three bands are equal and it carries an arc of eight white stars. |
What the colours mean
- Yellow
#FCD116The country's gold and its wealth - Blue
#003893The two oceans Colombia borders - Red
#CE1126The blood shed for independence
Flag laws usually specify a Pantone chip, a CMYK mix or just a colour name. Converting any of those to sRGB is lossy, which is why published hex values disagree.
- Ratio
- 2:3
- Current design adopted
- 1861
- Colours
- yellow, blue, red
Common questions
- What does the flag of Colombia look like?
- A yellow band filling the top half, with equal blue and red bands below it. No emblem.
- What do the colours of the Colombia flag mean?
- Yellow: the country's gold and its wealth. Blue: the two oceans Colombia borders. Red: the blood shed for independence.
- How do you tell the Colombia flag from the Ecuador one?
- Ecuador has the same bands and proportions plus a large coat of arms with a condor and Mount Chimborazo.
- When was the Colombia flag adopted?
- The current design dates from 1861, and its official ratio is 2:3.
Related pages
- Colombia Capital, area, population and currency
- The flag of Ecuador Routinely mistaken for this one
- The flag of Venezuela Routinely mistaken for this one
- Every flag with yellow in it
- The flag of China Ratio 2:3
- The flag of Brazil Ratio 7:10
- The flag of Spain Ratio 2:3
- The flag of Ukraine Ratio 2:3
- The flag of Romania Ratio 2:3
- The flag of Sweden Ratio 5:8
- The flag of Vietnam Ratio 2:3
- The flag of Belgium Ratio 13:15
Sources
- The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency (Public domain (US Government))