Flag of Paraguay

What the flag of Paraguay looks like

The flag of Paraguay has three horizontal bands of equal height: red at the top, white in the middle and blue at the bottom. The proportions are 11:20, which makes it longer than most flags.

The front (obverse) carries the national coat of arms in the middle of the white band. It is a yellow five-pointed star inside a wreath formed by a palm branch on the left and an olive branch on the right, tied together at the bottom. The words República del Paraguay run in a circle around it.

The back (reverse) has the treasury seal in the same place: a yellow lion sitting in front of a pole topped with a red Phrygian cap, also called a liberty cap. The motto Paz y Justicia ("Peace and Justice") is written around it. On a flag flown from a pole you will mostly see only one face at a time, so the reverse is easy to miss.

The flag is also shown in a simplified form in the Paraguay flag emoji, where only the colored bands and a small emblem are visible.

Why does Paraguay have a two-sided flag?

Paraguay is the best-known example of a national flag that is officially different on its two sides. The custom dates back to the first decades of the republic, when the new state used one emblem for the front, the national coat of arms, and another for the back, the seal of the treasury. When the flag was fixed by law in the 1840s, both emblems were kept, and the front and back have been different ever since.

In practice, the coat of arms side is the one seen most often, on ceremonial flags and on buildings. Many cheap flags, and those printed for sports events, show the same emblem on both sides, but the full two-sided flag is the official version.

Paraguay flag meaning and symbolism

The colors are most often explained like this: red stands for courage, patriotism and equality, white for peace and unity, and blue for freedom and liberty. Another common reading gives red as justice and bravery. Paraguayan law describes the design but does not fix an official meaning for each color, so all of these are traditional.

The star on the coat of arms is often said to recall the May 1811 independence movement. The palm branch is a symbol of honor, and the olive branch is a symbol of peace. On the back, the lion stands for strength and vigilance, the liberty cap for freedom, and the words "Peace and Justice" for the values of the state.

History of the Paraguay flag

Paraguay declared independence from Spain in May 1811. Its red, white and blue colors were chosen soon afterward, probably under the influence of the French tricolor and of the patriots of neighboring Argentina, whose revolution had started a year earlier. The first flags had horizontal stripes and a changing emblem. In 1842, when the republic's independence was formally declared, the congress passed a law that fixed the stripes and the two-sided design, and that is the flag Paraguay still uses.

The details of the emblems have been redrawn at different times, and the official specifications were updated again in modern laws, including one in 2013, but the layout and colors have not changed. Paraguay has kept its two-sided tradition while most other countries have simplified their flags.

Paraguay flag vs the Netherlands flag

The red, white and blue stripes are in the same order as on the flag of the Netherlands, which is the main reason for confusion. The differences are easy to spot. The Dutch flag has no emblem and has a ratio of 2:3, and its red and blue are slightly different shades. Luxembourg uses the same order with a lighter, sky-blue stripe. Paraguay's emblem in the center and its 11:20 shape set it apart from both.