The Secret History Behind Uruguay's Flag
Uruguay's flag started out with nineteen stripes and ended up with nine.
The flag was first adopted by law on December 18, 1828, with 19 alternating white and blue stripes. On July 11, 1830, a new law reduced them to nine, which stand for the nine original departments of the country. The white square in the corner holds the Sun of May, the symbol that Uruguay shares with Argentina and that recalls the revolution of 1810.
Uruguay also has two historic flags that were declared official in 1952: the flag of Artigas, with a red diagonal stripe for federalism, and the flag of the Treinta y Tres Orientales, with the words "Libertad o Muerte", "Freedom or Death".
The date printed on every Uruguay design in our catalog, August 25, 1825, is the day Uruguay declared independence.
Nineteen stripes became nine, and the sun stayed.
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