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

# The flag of Uruguay

**The flag of Uruguay: Nine alternating horizontal stripes of white and blue, with a white canton bearing a golden Sun of May.**

Ratio 2:3 · current design adopted 1830

The flag started with nineteen stripes in 1828, one per department, and was reduced to nine in 1830 for legibility — a rare case of a country deciding its own symbolism was getting in the way. The stripe-and-canton layout is modelled on the United States flag, which Uruguayan legislators cited explicitly. The Sun of May has sixteen rays here, against Argentina's thirty-two. Uruguay also has two other official flags, the Artigas flag and the Treinta y Tres flag, both flown alongside the national one on public buildings.

## 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.*

- **White** (#FFFFFF) — Peace, and the canton
- **Blue** (#0038A8) — Liberty; also the sky
- **Gold** (#FCD116) — The Sun of May

## The symbols on it

| What | What it stands for |
| --- | --- |
| Nine stripes | The nine original departments of the country in 1828 |
| Sun of May | The same emblem Argentina uses, from the May Revolution |

- **Ratio:** 2:3
- **Current design adopted:** 1830
- **Colours:** white, blue, gold

## Common questions

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

Nine alternating horizontal stripes of white and blue, with a white canton bearing a golden Sun of May.

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

White: peace, and the canton. Blue: liberty; also the sky. Gold: the Sun of May.

### When was the Uruguay flag adopted?

The current design dates from 1830, and its official ratio is 2:3.

## Related pages

- [Uruguay](https://atoneplace.net/country/uruguay/)
- [Every flag with white in it](https://atoneplace.net/flag/colour/white/)
- [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 Canada](https://atoneplace.net/flag/canada/)
- [The flag of Japan](https://atoneplace.net/flag/japan/)
- [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/)

## Sources

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