Mind-Blowing Colombia Flag Facts That You Won't Believe

When we think of Colombia, the first thing that probably comes to mind is its world-famous coffee!

Colombia is a country in South America, well known for its beauty with lush rainforests, diverse landscapes, coffee plantations, and towering mountains. It is also officially referred to as the Republic of Colombia.

Colombia, located in the northwestern part of South America, is surrounded by Venezuela to the east, the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and Peru, Ecuador to the south.

Colombia has also been nicknamed the gateway to South America because it joins Central America through the Panamanian land bridge. It is one of the seventeen mega-diverse countries in the world and has the second-highest world's biodiversity. Its capital is Bogota, which is the largest city in the country.

If you are fascinated to know about other countries, browse through our other articles like Austria facts and Finland facts.

What does Colombia's flag symbolize?

Did you ever notice that the flags of Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador are almost similar? This similarity is because in 1822, after gaining independence from Spain, these countries formed a confederation called Gran Colombia. Later in 1830, they parted ways; however, they retained the same flag. Keep reading to know more interesting facts about the national flag of Colombia.

In a simple explanation, Colombia's flag symbolizes the country's gold, ocean, and the blood of its heroes. The Columbian flag is a horizontal tricolor flag with primary colors yellow, blue and red.

The prominent yellow band covering the top half of the flag has a double-width to blue and red horizontal bands. The yellow represents the sun, gold, wealth, or riches of the country and agriculture.

It is also said that the yellow color also represents sovereignty and justice. Blue represents Colombia's contact with the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, rivers, and sky.

Red represents the blood spilled by the patriots for their independence against the rule of Spain. The three bands on the Colombian flag are in the ratio 2:1:1, and the length to width is in the ratio of 2:3.

Did you know? Colombia stands 29th as the most populous country in the world and third in South America. The official currency of the Republic of Colombia is the Colombian Peso, and its official language is Spanish. The Peso is denoted with a dollar ($) sign and sometimes as COL$.

Colombia is home to one of the best coffee in the world, well-known for its flavor and quality. Interestingly, most locals in the country have the habit of putting cheese blocks into their coffee and drinking with the cheese soaked in it. Do you like drinking coffee with cheese?

What is the history of the Colombia flag?

Colombia has its name from the last name of the legendary Italian explorer and navigator Christopher Columbus, but he never set his foot on the land of this country. Isn't it surprising? It shares its land borders with five countries.

Colombian flag, like its country, has a fascinating history to it. When Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Venezuela, referred to by Spanish rulers as New Granada in South America, got their independence in 1810, they referred to themselves as Gran Colombia. They officially adopted a flag designed by General Francisco de Miranda, a revolutionary freedom fighter from Venezuela.

Gran Colombia witnessed a lot of internal conflicts between themselves and had a concise life. During this time with the changing leadership, a few changes were made to the flag.

These changes included having vertical stripes and, as time passed addition of stars. Eventually, with the division of Venezuela and Ecuador into separate republics, the Colombia flag changed again. This time the horizontal bands were brought back, and the yellow band became broader and more prominent.

Columbia added the symbol of The National Coat of Arms of Colombia, which was placed in the center of the yellow, blue and red flags.

The National Coat of Arms has a shield at the center with four sails, two on each side, made from Colombian National Flag draped over spears behind it. The Andean Condor, a Colombian bird species, sits on top of the shield holding an olive branch in its beak.

Between the Andean Condor and the shield, a ribbon with the words Libertad Y Orden is displayed, which means liberty and order and is the national motto of Columbia.

The shield is divided into three parts, and the top part has an image of a golden pomegranate with two cornucopia pouring gold coins and fruits from each.

The middle part of the shield has the image of a Phrygian cap on top of a spear, which denotes freedom. The bottom part of the shield had an image of the Isthmus of Panama with two black ships with white sails in the two oceans, the Atlantic and Pacific ocean.

This is because Panama was part of Columbia till 1903.

The symbol was later removed, and the new flag, which is also currently used as defined in 1934. Since then, Columbia has been using the officially adopted flag, which is the yellow, blue, and red tricolor flag.

Did you know? Colombia is also home to the finest and best quality emeralds in the world. It has at least 150 mines and is known to be the world's leading Emerald producer.

How many flags does Colombia have?

Did you know? Colombia has substantial import-export trade worldwide. Its exports include coal, oil, cut flowers, textiles, bananas, and emeralds. The country's mines contribute 80-90% of the world's total supply of emeralds.

Francisco De Miranda designed the first flag with yellow, blue, and red horizontal bands of equal size and proportion. The Liberator, Simon Bolivar, adopted it as the national flag of Gran Colombia after they gained independence from Spain.

This was the first version of the flag. The horizontal bands were changed to vertical in the following years, and eight white stars were added to the center.

This is the second Colombia flag with stars. A few years later, with a change in the geopolitical scene, the Coats of Arms emblem was added, and the third version was created.

In creating the third version, horizontal bands were reintroduced with a yellow band occupying half the flag. Eventually, with Panama moving away from Colombia, this symbol was removed, and the current version of the flag with only yellow, blue, and red bands was adopted in 1934.

Along with the current flag, there are authorized variations like War flag, Merchant flag. The armed forces of Colombia still use the Coat of Arms in their respective flags.

The principal trading partners of Colombia include the United States, Germany, China, the Netherlands, and neighboring Mexico, Panama, and Brazil. However, Colombia is consistently facing high rates of unemployment and poverty despite its powerful economic performance. This is because the country shells out more on imports than it acquires in exports.

Who created the Colombian flag?

Are you aware that Colombia is the second-largest Spanish-speaking country after Mexico, with 50 million native Spanish speakers? Cano Cristales (the river of five colors), located in the province of Serrania de la Macarena of Colombia, is a color-changing river. From late July to November, its riverbed keeps changing its blue, yellow, black, green, and red colors.

Francisco De Miranda was a Venezuelan general and revolutionary who fought for the liberation of South American colonies under Spanish rule. Miranda designed the original version of the Colombian flag in 1806, which was adopted as the official flag after independence from Spain in 1812.

It is said that two sources of inspiration helped Miranda create this flag design. The first inspiration came from German philosopher and author Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe during their conversation. Goethe told Miranda to create a world where primary colors cannot be distorted.

He explained to Miranda how yellow is the noblest and warmest color. Blue represents serenity, and red is the synthesis of yellow and blue, representing rapture or exaltation.

The second source of inspiration came from the official colors in the banner of Burger Guard in Hamburg, Germany, which Miranda saw during his travels to Europe. He documented this in his diary.

In his diary, Miranda explained the genesis behind the idea for the flag. He wrote that yellow represented the Sun, the source of light, the riches and wealth of the soil is gold and other natural resources, agriculture, sovereignty, harmony, and justice.

Blue is a representation of the vast sea that surrounds the land. Red represents the sacrifices done for independence from Spanish rule in South America.

Though this flag was adopted as the national flag of Gran Colombia, after its division into Venezuela, Ecuador, and Colombia, they retained the same colors in their respective national flag.

They made changes in the design to differentiate themselves. The changes are either in the form of adding stars or symbols, but the base design that Miranda created is still present in these flags.

Though Miranda was not successful in liberating the Spanish colonies, he is still honored as the creator of the national flags of Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador.

Are you aware that Colombia's vast percentage of land is in the Amazon region? Yes, most of Colombia is jungle regions, and south Colombia is crisscrossed by Amazonia's important rivers, including the Caqueta, Putumayo, Apaporis, and Orinoco.

Are you fond of salsa dance? Did you know Cali is a city for party-goers in Colombia? The most world-famous dancers gather here to celebrate and dance to Colombia's distinct music of salsa. Then why not travel to this beautiful country and taste the wonders of it.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Colombia flag facts, why not look at Hungary facts or Jamaica facts?