The Peruvian flag is composed of three stripes of equal width running from top to bottom, one white and two red.
As is the case of most national flags, it is rectangular with a ratio of three to two.
Where did the red/white/red colors originate?
The man who freed Peru from Spanish oppression, General Jose de San Martin, appropriately was the one who originally chose the colors.
Why did he choose those colors for the flag of Peru?
A few historians claim that San Martin wanted to show the colors of Argentina (white) and of Chile (red), which were the countries that fought for Peru's freedom.
The Flag of Peru:
Other writers of Peru
historical accounts, however, believe that the colors of
the flag of Peru were chosen by San Martin for another reason.
At the moment he landed
in the Bay of Paracas
with his army to free Peru, San Martin observed the abundance of a type
of bird called "parihuanas" and took the colors of that bird for the
flag of the new republic.
Among other conjectures
is that the red color represented the Inca war and that it was a symbol
of the blood poured out by the heroes and martyrs of that war.
The central white stripe
was said to represent the purity of feelings of freedom, social
justice, and peace.
The founding father of
the Republic of Peru, Jose de San Martin, was the one who ordered the
creation of the flag of Peru.
On October 21,1821, in
Pisco, he laid out the guidelines
for the flag: It was to be "of silk or canvas, 8 feet long and 6 feet
wide, and divided by diagonal lines into 4 fields, two white ones on the
top and bottom and the two sides red."
However, this design
created some difficulties.
Therefore, on March 15, 1822, it was decided that the Peruvian flag
would be made of "a transverse white band between two red bands of the
same width."
Again, this new design
presented difficulties. It
could be confused with the Spanish flag; the flag of Spain having a
yellow stripe that would bleach out to white and appear similar to the
Peruvian flag.
So in May of 1822, a new
design was authorized: "...it will have 3 vertical or perpendicular columns, the center one
white and the two end ones red," and so came into being the Peruvian
flag that is used to this day.
The emblem seen in the center of the Peruvian flag was also originally laid out by San Martin.
In Pisco on October 21,
1821,
he mandated that the shield would "have an oval wreath of laurel and,
in the middle of that, a sun rising behind rugged mountains above a
calm sea."
On the outside of that
emblem were
added palm leaves at the bottom, a condor to the left, and a vicuna to
the right. In the background were the flags of the American states.
The upper part had a
banana tree with along with the sun; a field of blue lined
with a gold and red ribbon with the inscription "Rebirth of the Sun of
Peru."
The Peruvian flag, of
course, needed to have dyes or colors that would hold up
under varied conditions and climates, and so another obstacle arose.
Once again it was redesigned.
On February 24, 1825,
under a decree of congress,
it was decided that: "The symbol of the Peruvian Nation would be of a
shield divided in three parts; on blue on the right that would have a
vicuna looking towards the center; on the left, a white area where
there would be a 'quina' tree; and a smaller red section below in which
there would be a cornucopia pouring out coins as a symbol of the
richness of Peru in the three natural realms. The shield would have a
civic crown seen flat and having on each side a flag and a banner with
the national colors."
|
As the shield shown on
the Peruvian flag was often depicted at only half its
original size, this variant of the Peruvian flag was officially
accepted on March 31, 1950. |
See Peru's modern logo now on Inside-Peru's line of products called "Made In Peru."
Next, the look of Peru money >
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