Flag of Paraguay
Horizontal bands of red, white and blue. The front has the national coat of arms in the centre of the white band; the back has the treasury seal in the same place.
What the flag means
The red, white and blue are usually traced to the French tricolour. The front seal has a yellow star, the Star of May, for independence in 1811, inside a palm and olive wreath. The back shows a lion below a red cap of liberty on a pole, with the motto Paz y Justicia (Peace and Justice).
History
Paraguay's first flag, raised in Asunción on 15 May 1811, was blue with a white star, and a red, white and blue tricolour followed in 1812. On 25 November 1842, under Carlos Antonio López and Mariano Roque Alonso, Congress settled on the tricolour with the national arms on one side and the treasury seal on the other. A decree of 15 July 2013, under President Federico Franco, simplified both seals to bring them closer to their 19th-century form.
Paraguay is the only sovereign state whose flag has different emblems on its two sides.
Earlier flags of Paraguay
- 1811Blue flag with a white six-pointed star in the canton
Flags that look like this one
The Netherlands and Luxembourg are red, white and blue stripes; Luxembourg's bottom stripe is a lighter sky blue. Croatia adds a red-and-white chequered shield, and Paraguay adds a round seal.
Flags of Paraguay's neighbours
Sources
- Wikipedia: Flag of Paraguay
- Flags of the World: Paraguay
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Read how we research flags in our editorial policy, or report a mistake.
