---
title: "Flag of Cuba: colours and meaning"
description: "What every colour and symbol on the Cuba flag stands for, its official 1:2 ratio, and the year the current design was adopted. Plus the flags it gets mistaken for."
url: https://atoneplace.net/flag/cuba/
site: "At One Place"
---

# The flag of Cuba

**The flag of Cuba: Five horizontal stripes, three blue and two white, with a red equilateral triangle at the hoist bearing a white five-pointed star.**

Ratio 1:2 · current design adopted 1902

Cuba's and Puerto Rico's flags are the same design with the red and blue exchanged, and that is not coincidence: Puerto Rican revolutionaries adopted their version in 1895 in solidarity with the Cuban independence movement, deliberately inverting the colours of a flag already twenty years old. The Cuban design dates from 1849, was first raised at Cárdenas in 1850, and became official at independence in 1902. The triangle and the star are Masonic in origin, reflecting the movement's membership. Both flags are among the very few where the confusion is a designed reference rather than an accident.

## Flags it gets confused with

| Flag | How to tell them apart |
| --- | --- |
| Puerto Rico | The colours are swapped: Puerto Rico has red and white stripes with a blue triangle. |

## What the colours mean

*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.*

- **Blue** (#002A8F) — The three military districts the island was divided into
- **White** (#FFFFFF) — The purity of the independence cause
- **Red** (#CF142B) — The blood shed in the struggle; the triangle also stands for liberty, equality and fraternity

## The symbols on it

| What | What it stands for |
| --- | --- |
| Lone star | La Estrella Solitaria — independence, and the hoped-for new state |

- **Ratio:** 1:2
- **Current design adopted:** 1902
- **Colours:** blue, white, red

## Common questions

### What does the flag of Cuba look like?

Five horizontal stripes, three blue and two white, with a red equilateral triangle at the hoist bearing a white five-pointed star.

### What do the colours of the Cuba flag mean?

Blue: the three military districts the island was divided into. White: the purity of the independence cause. Red: the blood shed in the struggle; the triangle also stands for liberty, equality and fraternity.

### How do you tell the Cuba flag from the Puerto Rico one?

The colours are swapped: Puerto Rico has red and white stripes with a blue triangle.

### When was the Cuba flag adopted?

The current design dates from 1902, and its official ratio is 1:2.

## Related pages

- [Cuba](https://atoneplace.net/country/cuba/)
- [The flag of Puerto Rico](https://atoneplace.net/flag/puerto-rico/)
- [Every flag with blue in it](https://atoneplace.net/flag/colour/blue/)
- [The flag of United States](https://atoneplace.net/flag/united-states/)
- [The flag of India](https://atoneplace.net/flag/india/)
- [The flag of United Kingdom](https://atoneplace.net/flag/united-kingdom/)
- [The flag of France](https://atoneplace.net/flag/france/)
- [The flag of Russia](https://atoneplace.net/flag/russia/)
- [The flag of Brazil](https://atoneplace.net/flag/brazil/)
- [The flag of Australia](https://atoneplace.net/flag/australia/)
- [The flag of South Korea](https://atoneplace.net/flag/south-korea/)

## Sources

- The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency (https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/) [Public domain (US Government)]