Flag of Paraguay

The flag of Paraguay was first adopted in 1842. 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 seal, and the reverse shows the seal of the treasury. It is the only national flag worldwide that has a unique design on each side. The flag consists of the same three horizontal colours as the flag of the Netherlands, which in turn was the inspiration for the French flag. It was revised in 2013 to bring the flag towards its original design. It has a ratio of 11:20.

Officially adopted in 1842 (following the Recomendación, i.e.: address, of the Junta gubernativa de Asunción), each side of this tricolour flag contains a horizontal tricolor of red, white and blue with the national emblem centered on the white band. The colours of the flag are believed to be inspired from the flag of France to show independence and liberty, and the seal represents the independence of Paraguay. The differences in the obverse and reverse sides comes from the period when José de Francia was in power (1814–1840). The 2013 statute that defines the flag does not specify colors for the red and blue stripes, merely stating, "The red colour, as well as the blue colour, shall be kept as so-called 'primary colours,' that is, without admixture with other colours." Colors here are from SeekFlag, but other specifications have been used. Colors of the Seal are specified in the Appendix of Decree No. 11,400 (July 15, 2013).