Flag of Paraguay

The current design of the flag of Paraguay (Spanish: bandera de Paraguay; Guarani: Paraguái poyvi) was first adopted in 1842.^[1] Its design, a red–white–blue triband, was inspired by the colours of the French Tricolour, believed to signify independence and liberty. The flag is unusual because it differs on its obverse and reverse sides: the obverse of the flag shows the national coat of arms, and the reverse shows the seal of the treasury. It is the only national flag worldwide that has a unique design on each side.^[2] The flag consists of the same three horizontal colours as the flag of the Netherlands,^[3] which in turn was the inspiration for the French flag.^[4] It was revised in 2013 to bring the flag towards its original design. It has a ratio of 11:20.

Republic of Paraguay

Use	National flag and ensign ≈
Proportion	11:20
Adopted	1842 (last modified July 15, 2013; 11 years ago (2013-07-15))
Design	A horizontal triband of red, white and blue, defaced on the obverse with the coat of arms of Paraguay.
Use	Reverse flag
Proportion	11:20
Design	A horizontal triband of red, white and blue, defaced on the reverse with the reversed coat of arms of Paraguay.

Three Paraguayan flags hoisted in a shopping mall in Asunción.

Prior to the current design, the country used two other designs: a similar one with no seal where the white stripe was slightly larger than the other two (1812–1826), and a different simple design featuring a blue field and a six-pointed white star in the upper-left corner (1826–1842).

Description

Officially adopted in 1842 (following the Recomendación, i.e.: address, de la Junta gubernativa de Asunción),^[1] each side of this tricolour flag contains a horizontal tricolor of red, white and blue with the national emblem centered on the white band.^[1] The colours of the flag are believed to be inspired from the flag of France to show independence and liberty, and the coat of arms represents the independence of Paraguay.^[5]

• The emblem on the obverse side is the national coat of arms of Paraguay: a yellow five-pointed star surrounded by a green wreath of palm and olive leaves tied with ribbons of the colour of the stripes, and capped by the words REPUBLICA DEL PARAGUAY ("Republic of Paraguay" in Spanish), all within two concentric circles).^[1][6]

• The emblem on the reverse side is the seal of the treasury: a yellow lion below a red Phrygian cap on the top of a pole (symbolising courage) and the words Paz y Justicia ("Peace and Justice").^[1]

The differences in the obverse and reverse sides comes from the period when José de Francia was in power (1814–1840).^[7] On July 15, 2013, the flag was revised. The coat of arms was simplified and the design was brought closer to its original form.^[8]

Colours scheme

	Red	White	Blue
RGB[citation needed]	213-43-30	255-255-255	0-56-168
Hexadecimal[citation needed]	#d52b1e	#FFFFFF	#0038a8
CMYK[citation needed]	0, 80, 86, 16	0, 0, 0, 0	100, 67, 0, 34

Historical flags

• 
  Flag of Colonial Paraguay (1506–1700)
• 
  Flag of Colonial Paraguay from 1700 to 1785
• 
  Spanish flag in Paraguay (1785–1811)
• 
  Flag of Paraguay from 1811
• 
  First provisional flag of 1811. Ratio: 2:3
• 
  Second provisional flag of 1811. Ratio: 2:3
• 
  Third provisional flag, from 1811 to 1812. Ratio: 2:3
• 
  Flag from 1812 to 1826. Ratio: 1:2
• 
  Flag from 1826 to 1842. Ratio: 2:3
• 
  Flag from 1842 to 1954. Ratio: 2:3
• 
  Flag from 1842 to 1954 (reverse). Ratio: 2:3
• 
  Flag from 1954 to 1988. Ratio: 1:2
• 
  Flag from 1954 to 1988 (reverse). Ratio: 1:2
• 
  Flag from 1988 to 1990. Ratio: 3:5
• 
  Flag from 1988 to 1990 (reverse). Ratio: 3:5
• 
  Flag from 1990 to 2013. Ratio: 27:50
• 
  Flag from 1990 to 2013 (reverse). Ratio: 27:50

Other current flags

• 
  Presidential standard of Paraguay
• 
  Naval jack

Departments

• 
  Asunción
• 
  Alto Paraguay
• 
  Alto Paraná
• 
  Amambay
• 
  Boquerón
• 
  Caaguazú
• 
  Caazapá
• 
  Canindeyú
• 
  Central
• 
  Concepción
• 
  Cordillera
• 
  Guairá
• 
  Itapúa
• 
  Misiones
• 
  Ñeembucú
• 
  Paraguarí
• 
  Presidente Hayes
• 
  San Pedro

See also

• Coat of arms of Paraguay
• Flags whose reverse differs from the obverse
• List of Paraguayan flags