Flag of Andorra

What the flag of Andorra looks like

The flag of Andorra has three vertical bands: blue at the hoist (the side nearest the pole), yellow in the middle and red at the fly. The proportions are 7:10, slightly squarer than the 2:3 of most flags, and the yellow center band is slightly wider than the other two (the bands are in the ratio 8:9:8). The national coat of arms is placed on the central yellow band.

The coat of arms is a shield divided into four parts, and each part recalls a historic ruler or land linked with Andorra. The top left shows a bishop's mitre and crozier, the arms of the Bishop of Urgell. The top right shows three red vertical stripes on gold, from the Counts of Foix. The bottom left has four red stripes on gold, the arms of Catalonia. The bottom right has two red cows on gold, from the viscounts of Béarn. Below the shield, a ribbon bears the motto Virtus Unita Fortior, Latin for "Virtue united is stronger".

A plainer civil version of the flag, without the coat of arms, is also used. The Andorra flag emoji shows the same three bands with a very small shield.

Andorra flag meaning and symbolism

The colors are commonly explained as a link to the lands historically tied to Andorra. Blue and red are also found on the French flag, and red and yellow are the colors of Catalonia (the old royal symbol of the Crown of Aragon) and of the arms of the old County of Foix. The three-bar layout resembles the French tricolor, while the wider middle stripe is also seen on the Spanish flag. This is the usual explanation, not an official statement.

The coat of arms carries historical symbolism of the Catholic bishop of Urgell, the Count of Foix, the Principality of Catalonia and the Viscounty of Béarn. It recalls the history of Andorra as a co-principality, jointly ruled by the Bishop of Urgell (in Catalonia, Spain) and the Counts of Foix, whose rights later passed to the French head of state. The coat of arms makes the flag one of the national flags with overtly Christian symbolism, and one of two that show cattle, together with the flag of Moldova.

History of the Andorra flag

Andorra's special status goes back to 1278, when the Bishop of Urgell and the Count of Foix agreed to share authority over the valleys. The civilian variant of the flag, without the coat of arms, was created in 1866, in the time of the New Reform of Guillem d'Areny-Plandolit, which Bishop Josep Caixal i Estradé approved on April 22, 1866. A variant is said to have been designed by Napoleon III, with the blue stripe representing France. That plain tricolor remains the official civil flag, but it is rarely used because it resembles other national flags.

In the late 19th century a version with three horizontal bands and a crown in the center was in use, and horizontal flags lasted until the end of the 1930s. Around 1939 the vertical arrangement returned and a coat of arms was added, and the yellow band was probably widened later. Variants differed until an official, standardized design was introduced in the constitution of April 28, 1993, in part because of plans to join the United Nations, which Andorra did on July 28, 1993.

Andorra celebrates its national day, Our Lady of Meritxell Day, on 8 September.

Flags that look like the Andorra flag

Andorra's flag is almost identical to the flags of Romania, Chad and Moldova, which are also blue, yellow and red vertical tricolors. The Romanian flag has no coat of arms and has a ratio of 2:3. Chad's flag is also plain, and its blue is a darker indigo. The flag of Moldova has the same bands as Andorra but a different coat of arms, an eagle holding a cross, in the center. The Andorran coat of arms and its slightly squarer shape are the quickest way to tell them apart.