Flag of Uruguay

Flag origins

Uruguay's flag has five white and four blue horizontal bands and a golden Sun of May in a white canton. The total of nine bands represents the original nine departments. The 1828 design instead had nine blue stripes on white; in 1830 these were reduced to four, retaining nine bands in total for clarity. The face-bearing sun has sixteen rays and shares South American independence associations with Argentina's sun; detailed standards were established in 1952.

Flag story

Uruguay also recognizes the Artigas flag and the flag of the Thirty-Three Orientals as major national symbols. The latter recalls the 1825 independence campaign against Brazilian rule. The national flag's 1830 simplification preserved the meaning of nine departments while making the design easier to see.

Editorial notes and references

Edited by ABELHA WORKS. The English text translates the administrator-edited Japanese description. Legends should be distinguished from documented history. General reference links do not substantiate every statement in the text.

• Uruguay — general information on Wikipedia
• Japan MOFA: countries and regions (Japanese)

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