Flag of Brazil
A green field with a large yellow rhombus. Inside it is a blue globe with 27 white stars, crossed by a curved white band bearing the motto Ordem e Progresso in green.
What the flag means
Each star is a state or the Federal District, placed as the sky over Rio de Janeiro looked on 15 November 1889. The green and yellow come from the imperial flag, where they stood for the House of Braganza and the House of Habsburg. The motto, Order and Progress, comes from the positivist philosopher Auguste Comte.
History
The monarchy fell on 15 November 1889, and for four days a provisional flag modelled on the United States flag was used. Marshal Deodoro da Fonseca rejected it as too close to a foreign flag. Raimundo Teixeira Mendes, working with Miguel Lemos and Manuel Pereira Reis, kept the imperial green and yellow and replaced the arms with a starry sky; Décio Villares painted it. Decree No. 4 adopted it on 19 November 1889 with 21 stars. Stars have been added since, most recently by Law 8,421 of 11 May 1992.
Under Law 5,700 of 1971 the stars are drawn as seen from outside the celestial sphere, so the constellations are a mirror image of the sky seen from the ground.
Earlier flags of Brazil
- 1815–1822Flag of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves
- 1822–1889Imperial flag: green field, yellow rhombus and the imperial coat of arms
- 1889Provisional republican flag modelled on the US flag, used 15–19 November
Flags of Brazil's neighbours
Sources
- Wikipedia: Flag of Brazil
- Flags of the World: Brazil
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Read how we research flags in our editorial policy, or report a mistake.
