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![[flag]](../images/b/bo.gif)
image by António Martins, 17 August 2005 | 15:22
See also:
The Album 2000 [pay00] says:
1. National flag.This flag is defined in Decret of 14 July 1888 and has not been changed since (though there were latter regulations that did not touch this simple flag).2:3
See also:
Flag adopted in
1851.10.31,
and confirmed in
1888.07.14.
Jaume Ollé, 01 January 1996
The presidential decree of 7 August 1825
described the 1825 Coat of Arms. The current
flag was promulgated by the decree of President Manuel Belzu in
late 1851. The decree of
14 July 1888 described the
Coat of Arms, and the flags for civil,
state and
military use. The 2004
decree described the same symbols as the 1888 document, but offered
very detailed descriptions.
Alex Garofolo, 27 January 2015.
The country’s
new
constitution was adopted in 2009, and was followed by
Decreto Supremo 241 on 5 August 2009,
which set out the symbols and their use.
Jonathan Dixon, 25 September 2016
The Bolivian flag is a vertical tricolour (tierced in fess) of
red over yellow over green, as defined by
Article V of the 1888 decree and
Article 1 of the 2004 decree.
Alex Garofolo, 27 January 2015
Art. 4, point III, of the 2004 flag law
prescribes the civil flag, which is the plain triband.
António Martins, 19 August 2005
The Law of 5 November 1851, the (Supreme)
Decree of President Gregorio Pacheco of 11
July 1888, and the (Supreme) Decree of 30 July
2004 all place the red stripe uppermost.
Christopher Southworth, 09 April 2006
In the 2009 decree the colour specs are
the same as the 2004 decree. There are some
changes to the description of the symbolism of the colours.
Jonathan Dixon, 25 September 2016
Art. 3 of the 2004 flag law gives the
official color shades:
Red is PMS 485 CVU (
), yellow is PMS Process Yellow (
),
and green is PMS 356 CVU (
). Red and yellow match both the
images on these pages and the law text illustrations, but the shade of
green not so: While the prescribed PMS value is darker than regular
green (
),
the law text illustrations show a much brighter shade (
).
António Martins, 19 August 2005
How do these PMS specs match the legal prescriptions given in law for
other Bolivian flags, such as the departmental flag
of La Paz, said to be verde esmeralda, not just verde,
and red punzó, not guindo? How should it look like when
hoisted along the national flag and other departmental flags? Also, how
is the flag of Bolivia supposed to compare to other national flags with
similar design, such as Ghana,
Lithuania, Ethiopia, or
Burma? (Identical, lighter, darker?) Are these hard
questions the creators of the tech specs in these flag laws didn’t
even think about? Well, okay, but then, why PMS codes in a law, a
presidential decree, to boot? Why not just use vernacular color names and
let the exact shades be worked out by those in charge of the final
manufacture?
António Martins, 06 October 2017
The protocol manual for the London 2012 Olympics (Flags and Anthems
Manual London 2012) [loc12] provides
recommendations for national flag designs. Each National Olympic Committee
confirmed their colours with the London Game’s Organization
Committee. Bolivia’s colours are defined as: PMS 485 red, process yellow,
356 green, 440 grey, process blue, 293 blue and black.
Ian Sumner, 10 October 2012
As far as the yellow of the Bolivian tricolour is concerned, I
have no official recommendations, however, an official model of the
Naval Ensign shows the middle stripe to be
Pantone 107C.
Christopher Southworth, 04 February 2002
In the 2009 decree the proportions are
still set at 7.5:11, but the official sizes for the flag are
200×300 cm, and 20×30 cm.
Jonathan Dixon, 25 September 2016
In art. 2 of the 2004 flag law, the
ratio of the flag is given as 7,5:11, which is as clumsy as it
comes for a flag with three equal-height stripes. (A much more even
fraction to express this ratio is 15:22.) This pretty odd ratio seems to
be a novelty, as all previous sources we heard of mentioned 2:3 instead
(which is not very different from 15:22, anyway).
António Martins, 19 August 2005
The 15:22 ratio is slightly shorter than 2:3 (= 15:22.5).
Alex Garofolo, 06 February 2016
I also wondered why a regulated size of 15:22, but since there is only
3.4% of flag width in it I would imagine that most flags would actually
be made 2:3?
Christopher Southworth, 20 August 2005
The 2009 flag law inconsistently keeps a
reference to the unusual ratio 7,5:11 and yet prescribes flag sizes
200×300 cm², and 20×30cm²…
António Martins, 05 October 2017
The design is similar to the national flags of
Ethiopia, Lithuania,
Myanmar and Ghana. The same
colour scheme is used by Grenada,
Guyana, Vanuatu and
14 African nations.
Alex Garofolo, s/d
Art. 1 of the 2004 flag law mentions the
symbolism of the colors, as patriotic bloodshed, nature’s bounty, and verdure
and hope.
António Martins, 19 August 2005
The official symbolism of the flag’s colours was altered by the
2004 decree.
Alex Garofolo, 27 January 2015
In Whitney Smith’s Flags through he Ages and Across the
World [smi75b] the red is said to
stand for the bravery of the Bolivian soldier, green is the fertility of
the land and yellow represents the country’s mineral resources.
Stephan Hurford, 13 February 2000
In Webster’s Concise Encyclopedia of Flags, 1985 [mch85a]:
The three horizontal stripes of the Bolivian flag — red, yellow and green — respectively symbolize the gallantry of Bolivian soldiers, the country’s mineral wealth, and the fertility of the land.The meaning of colors on flags is usually given after a flag is adopted; this was probably the case here, as they were derived from earlier flags of Colombia and her liberator, Simon Bolívar
According to Webster’s Concise Encyclopedia of Flags, 1985
[mch85a], the flag with its present
order of stripes was introduced in 1851 but a
number of variations had been used since Bolivia gained independence in
1825.
Jarig Bakker, 02 January 2002
![[flag]](../images/b/bo_s.gif)
by António Martins, 17 August 2005 | 15:22
I’ve been in Bolivia in March 2001; the state flag is hardly
ever seen. Even over the presidential palace the
plain tricolour is flown.
Mark Sensen, 03 July 2005
Usage of the State Flag and War Flag is covered in
Articles VI thru VII of the 1888 decree
and in Article 4 of the 2004 decree.
Alex Garofolo, 27 January 2015
The book [smi80] indicates the flag
use only as 
, possibly at that time there was no regulation
regarding the state ships on lakes or so.
Željko Heimer, 11 March 2001
The Album 2000 [pay00] says:
2. State FlagThe note beside this flag describes that it is also the personal flag for the President of the Republic.2:3
It is du jure State Flag & Ensign
;
de facto Presidential Standard.
Alex Garofolo, s/d
The Bolivian coat of arms of
1888 is placed in the middle of the state flag.
Jarig Bakker, 02 January 2002
Art. 4, point I, of the 2004 flag law
prescribes the state flag; the image which illustrates it is very low
quality and there is no indication (neither textual nor pictorial) of the
size of the emblem — only that it should be “centered”
on the yellow stripe and showing on both sides of the flag. (It is also
left unsaid whether the emblem is mirrored or flipped on the flag’s
reverse.)
António Martins, 19 August 2005
According to a detailed graphic of the arms at an
official
website, their proportions are 13:15 (and apparently
occupying 13/17 the width of the central stripe), plus official Pantone
colours of red 465, Process yellow and green 356.
Christopher Southworth, 02 Aug 2004
The Album 2000 [pay00] have the
emblem much larger, about half of the flag hoist.
The note beside this flag describes that it is also used in
1:2 variant. What’s the right size of the coat
of arms in the state flag, it is prescribed anywhere at all?.
Željko Heimer, 11 March 2001
![[flag]](../images/b/bo_sd.gif)
image by António Martins, 16 March 2018 |
It is one of those special flags for indoor hoisting, with its emblem
rotated to be aligned with the flag’s diagonal, seen in official use in
this
2014 photo of President Evo Morales.
António Martins, 10 October 2017
![[flag]](../images/b/bo!b).gif)
image by António Martins, 09 May 2004 |
Flags and Arms across the World, by Whitney Smith
[smi80] shows the coat of arms
set in light blue disk of diameter equal to yellow stripe height.
Željko Heimer, 11 March 2001
My sources (real flags and designs from French Embassy in La Paz
and from Bolivian Consulate in Paris) concur to no blue disk.
Armand du Payrat, 12 March 2001
Art. 5, point IV, of the flag 2004 law,
which prescribes the national coat of arms, includes
a provision that «when needed» the it should have a “pearl
blue” background, which may account for this variant / error.
António Martins, 19 August 2005
![[flag]](../images/b/bo!www.gif)
image by António Martins, 27 September 1999
On Bolivian web sites [e.g.,
Bolivian.COM]
there is a new version of the national flag, which I believe is only for
decorative reasons. It shows the coat-of-arms stretching out over all three
stripes!
Ralf Stelter, 13 June 1999
According to an original piece received from the Bolivian
embassy in Paris (and a phone call from them), the flag should
normally be in 2:3 ratio, the flag in 1:2 being an alternative
variant.
Armand du Payrat, 28 September 1999
This large emblem version is kind of unofficial, but ceremonial
version used when “it matters”, if I may put it that way.
Željko Heimer, 11 March 2001
My sources (real flags and designs from French Embassy in La Paz
and from Bolivian Consulate in Paris) have various sizes of coat of
arms in flag.
Armand du Payrat, 12 March 2001
![[flag]](../images/b/bo_w.gif)
image by Kjell Roll Elgsaas and
António Martins, 06 October 2017
See also:
When the country’s
new
constitution was adopted in 2009, «the
Wiphala» was included as one of the national symbols,
along with the tricolour flag
Jonathan Dixon, 25 September 2016
by António Martins, 17 August 2005 | 15:22
The note beside the state flag in the Album
2000 [pay00] describes that it is
also the personal flag for the President of the Republic and and that it
is also used in 1:2 variant.
Željko Heimer, 11 March 2001
I’ve been in Bolivia in March 2001; over the presidential palace
the plain tricolour is flown.
Mark Sensen, 03 July 2005
I found this B.B.C. report on the 10th anniversary of Evo Morales’
mandate. There are a pair of photos of
him in the Presidential Sash. In the 2006 photo, the sash is the
plain tricolor. In the 2015 photo, the sash carries the
national Coat of Arms and an
indigenous checker pattern, the emblems are
spaced so that the ornament of his chain of office sits between them.
Alex Garofolo, 04 February 2016
Two
more
images of Evo Morales with the new sash and other presidential regalia
including the 7×7 Qulla Suyu flag motif, standing
by both flags, as described.
António Martins, 10 October 2017
![[flag]](../images/b/bo!fuu.gif)
by António Martins, 06 April 2006
A friend of mine whose son is serving as a missionary in Bolivia
said that his son has reported that the red stripe is up only in times
of war. I said that that is more than likely an urban legend.
David Kendall, 27 June 2005
Very very fishy. The red stripe is up, according to the
law, yet was at war last time in the 1920ies; even
if it is red on the bottom (i.e., inverted
flag) meaning war, it would be unthinkable to fly the coat of arms
upside down (on the state flag).
António Martins, 03 July 2005 and 01 December 2006
Probably an urban legend, but possibly based on the
Philippines war flag. I’m sure the father
in question knows whether his son is in the Philippines or Bolivia, but if
it’s a friend-of-a-friend story, the countries could shift.
Dean McGee, 10 April 2006
Flag law:
https://www.lexivox.org/norms/BO-DS-27630.xhtml (online - 2004 version)
http://www.gacetaoficialdebolivia.gob.bo/edicions/view/125ESP (downloadable 2009 version, but its size is 36,6 MB!)
Based on law, the national flag colors are:
Red: Pantone 485C, Pantone Process Yellow C, and Pantone 356C.
Wiphala colors are: Red: 485 C, Orange: 165 C, Yellow: Process Yellow C, White: White, Green: 356 C, Blue: 286 C, and Violet: 266 C (they are defined in 2009 version of law.)
Flag images on FOTW-ws follow the FOTW Color Guide, but official colors are different.
Other sources for colors:
The Flag Manual - Beijing 2008 gives PMS 032 (red), PMS 109 (yellow), PMS 355 (green), PMS 440 (brown), PMS 293 (blue), Process Blue, and Black
The Album des Pavillons 2000 [pay00] (Corr. No.6.) gives approximate colors in Pantone and CMYK systems:
Blue: Pantone Process cyan c, CMYK 100-10-0-10
Dark Blue: Pantone blue 275c, CMYK 98-100-0-43
Yellow: Pantone Process yellow c, CMYK 0-0-100-0
Mauve: Pantone 259c, CMYK 0-100-0-15
Red: Pantone 485c, CMYK 0-95-100-0
Green: Pantone 356c, CMYK 95-0-100-27
Orange: Pantone 158c, CMYK 0-61-97-0
Flags and Anthems Manual London 2012 [loc12] gives PMS 485 (red), PMS Process Yellow, PMS 356 (green), PMS 440 (dark grey), PMS Process Blue, PMS 293 (dark blue), and PMS Black
The Album des Pavillons 2023 already specifies the colors of the flags in three color systems.
Blue: Pantone 2201c, CMYK 74-7-11-0, RGB 0-174-214
Blue: Pantone 275c, CMYK 100-100-38-41, RGB 33-23-71
Red: Pantone 485c, CMYK 6-94-96-0, RGB 218-41-28
Orange: Pantone 158c, CMYK 4-62-93-0, RGB 232-119-34
Purple: Pantone 259c, CMYK 71-100-12-3, RGB 109-32-119
Yellow: Pantone 116c, CMYK 0-21-93-0, RGB 255-204-0
Green: Pantone 356c, CMYK 88-26-100-12, RGB 0-122-51
Wikipedia gives the following color values:
Red: Pantone: 485, RGB: 218-41-28, Hex: #DA291C, CMYK 0-95-100-0
Yellow: Pantone: Process Yellow, RGB: 244-228-0, Hex: #F4E400, CMYK 0-0-100-0
Green: Pantone: 356, RGB: 0-122-51, Hex: #007A33, CMYK 91-0-100-26
Zoltán Horváth, 22 April 2024
