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

# The flag of Ecuador

**The flag of Ecuador: A yellow band filling the top half, with equal blue and red bands below, and the national coat of arms centred over all three.**

Ratio 1:2 · current design adopted 1900

Ecuador and Colombia share identical band proportions — a double-height yellow over equal blue and red — so the coat of arms is the only reliable difference, and it is a busy one: a condor above an oval containing Chimborazo, the Guayas river and a steamship, framed by fasces and four zodiac signs for the months of the 1845 revolution. The civil flag without arms is legal and is what makes the confusion with Colombia acute. The 1:2 ratio is longer than Colombia's 2:3, which is a second tell. Ecuador adopted the arrangement in 1860 and the modern arms in 1900.

## Flags it gets confused with

| Flag | How to tell them apart |
| --- | --- |
| Colombia | Colombia has no coat of arms and is squarer at 2:3. |
| Venezuela | Venezuela has three equal bands and eight white stars. |

## 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.*

- **Yellow** (#FFDD00) — Abundance, crops and sunshine
- **Blue** (#0072CE) — The sea and the sky
- **Red** (#EF3340) — The blood of those who fought for independence

## The symbols on it

| What | What it stands for |
| --- | --- |
| Condor | Power and vigilance; wings spread over the shield |
| Mount Chimborazo and a steamship | The nation's highest peak and the first steamship built on the Pacific coast |

- **Ratio:** 1:2
- **Current design adopted:** 1900
- **Colours:** yellow, blue, red

## Common questions

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

A yellow band filling the top half, with equal blue and red bands below, and the national coat of arms centred over all three.

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

Yellow: abundance, crops and sunshine. Blue: the sea and the sky. Red: the blood of those who fought for independence.

### How do you tell the Ecuador flag from the Colombia one?

Colombia has no coat of arms and is squarer at 2:3.

### When was the Ecuador flag adopted?

The current design dates from 1900, and its official ratio is 1:2.

## Related pages

- [Ecuador](https://atoneplace.net/country/ecuador/)
- [The flag of Colombia](https://atoneplace.net/flag/colombia/)
- [The flag of Venezuela](https://atoneplace.net/flag/venezuela/)
- [Every flag with yellow in it](https://atoneplace.net/flag/colour/yellow/)
- [The flag of China](https://atoneplace.net/flag/china/)
- [The flag of Brazil](https://atoneplace.net/flag/brazil/)
- [The flag of Spain](https://atoneplace.net/flag/spain/)
- [The flag of Ukraine](https://atoneplace.net/flag/ukraine/)
- [The flag of Romania](https://atoneplace.net/flag/romania/)
- [The flag of Sweden](https://atoneplace.net/flag/sweden/)
- [The flag of Vietnam](https://atoneplace.net/flag/vietnam/)
- [The flag of Belgium](https://atoneplace.net/flag/belgium/)

## Sources

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