Flag of Uruguay

The national flag of Uruguay, officially known as the National Pavilion, is the most important of the three official flags of Uruguay along with the Artigas flag and the flag of the Treinta y Tres. It has a field of nine equal horizontal stripes alternating white and blue. The canton is white, charged with the Sun of May, from which 16 rays extend, alternating between triangular and wavy. The flag was first adopted by law on 18 December 1828, and had 19 alternating stripes of white and blue until 11 July 1830, when a new law reduced the number of alternating stripes to nine. The flag was designed by Joaquín Suárez.

The horizontal stripes on the flag represent the nine original departments of Uruguay, based on the U.S. flag, where the stripes represent the original 13 colonies. The first flag designed in 1828 had 9 light blue stripes; this number was reduced to 4 in 1830 due to visibility problems from distance. These stripes of blue and white were inspired by the flag of Argentina, making the flag of Uruguay part of both the Stars and Stripes and Belgrano flag families. The golden Sun of May represents the May Revolution of 1810; It also appears on the flag of Argentina The specific color hues of the flag are not officially defined by law. The National Pavilion is first on the list of national symbols, but Uruguay also has two other official flags. These are symbols used during the liberation wars against Spain and Brazil in the early 19th century. The two flags known as the Artigas flag and the Flag of the Treinta y Tres were declared official on 18 February 1952.