Colombia Flag

Colombia's flag has three horizontal stripes: yellow at the top (half the flag's height), then equal-height stripes of blue and red below. The yellow stripe is twice as tall as each of the other two.

Yellow symbolises Colombia's gold, sovereignty, and the country's rich natural resources. Blue represents the Pacific Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and the country's rivers. Red represents the blood of those who fought for independence.

The design originates from Francisco de Miranda's flag for Gran Colombia (1806), a federation that included modern Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama. Miranda reportedly chose yellow, blue, and red to represent "the riches of our land separated from Spain by the ocean, washed in the blood of patriots."

Colombia formally adopted the flag in 1861 with the unequal stripe proportions that distinguish it from Venezuela and Ecuador, which use the same colours in equal stripes.