---
title: "Flag of Spain: colours and meaning"
description: "What every colour and symbol on the Spain flag stands for, its official 2:3 ratio, and the year the current design was adopted. Plus the flags it gets mistaken for."
url: https://atoneplace.net/flag/spain/
site: "At One Place"
---

# The flag of Spain

**The flag of Spain: Three horizontal bands of red, yellow and red, the yellow twice the height of each red band, with the coat of arms toward the hoist.**

Ratio 2:3 · current design adopted 1981

*[Flag drawn on the page: Spain]*

The unequal bands are the point: Charles III chose the design in 1785 for the navy specifically so Spanish ships could be told apart at a distance from the many mostly-white Bourbon ensigns of the period. The motto PLUS ULTRA inverts a classical warning — the pillars were said to be marked NON PLUS ULTRA, "nothing further beyond" — and Spain removed the "non" once there demonstrably was. The current arms date from 1981; the flag without arms is legal for private citizens and is what fills stadiums.

## 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.*

- **Red** (#AA151B) — From the arms of Aragon and Castile
- **Yellow** (#F1BF00) — From the same heraldic arms; the wider central band

## The symbols on it

| What | What it stands for |
| --- | --- |
| Pillars of Hercules | The Strait of Gibraltar, with the motto PLUS ULTRA — "further beyond", added after the Atlantic crossings |
| Quartered shield | Castile, León, Aragon and Navarre, with Granada below and the Bourbon fleur-de-lis at the centre |

- **Ratio:** 2:3
- **Current design adopted:** 1981
- **Colours:** red, yellow

## Common questions

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

Three horizontal bands of red, yellow and red, the yellow twice the height of each red band, with the coat of arms toward the hoist.

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

Red: from the arms of Aragon and Castile. Yellow: from the same heraldic arms; the wider central band.

### When was the Spain flag adopted?

The current design dates from 1981, and its official ratio is 2:3.

## Related pages

- [Spain](https://atoneplace.net/country/spain/)
- [Every flag with red in it](https://atoneplace.net/flag/colour/red/)
- [The flag of United States](https://atoneplace.net/flag/united-states/)
- [The flag of United Kingdom](https://atoneplace.net/flag/united-kingdom/)
- [The flag of Canada](https://atoneplace.net/flag/canada/)
- [The flag of France](https://atoneplace.net/flag/france/)
- [The flag of China](https://atoneplace.net/flag/china/)
- [The flag of Germany](https://atoneplace.net/flag/germany/)
- [The flag of Russia](https://atoneplace.net/flag/russia/)
- [The flag of Italy](https://atoneplace.net/flag/italy/)

## Sources

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