Country profile: Uruguay

After Uruguay's independence, a law of 16 December 1828 created a first flag with nineteen stripes, nine blue and ten white, and a Sun of May in the canton.

Considered hard to read, this design was simplified by a law of 11 July 1830: the flag now had only nine stripes, five white and four blue. This is the current flag, known as the ‘National Pavilion’ (Pabellón Nacional).

The Sun of May, placed in the white canton, recalls the historical ties between Uruguay and Argentina, both of which emerged from the former Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata.

The elements of the Uruguayan flag have a precise meaning:

• Nine stripes: they represent the nine departments into which Uruguay was divided in 1830.
• Blue and white: colours inherited from the independence movement of the Río de la Plata, also found on the Argentine flag.
• Sun of May: a symbol of the May Revolution of 1810 in Buenos Aires and of Inti, the Inca sun god.

Uruguay has three official flags, flown together on many public buildings: the National Pavilion, the Artigas flag (blue, white and blue stripes crossed by a red diagonal) and the flag of the Thirty-Three Orientals, heroes of the 1825 campaign, which bears the motto ‘Liberty or Death’. The official status of the latter two was recognised on 18 February 1952.

The Uruguayan flag is sometimes compared with that of Greece, which also has nine blue and white stripes, but with a cross in the canton instead of a sun.

Uruguay's Sun of May, which has a human face, has sixteen rays, alternately straight and wavy.