Flag of Venezuela
Three equal horizontal bands of yellow, blue and red, with eight white five-pointed stars in an arc on the blue band. The state flag adds the coat of arms at the hoist end of the yellow band.
What the flag means
The current explanation is yellow for the country's riches, gold and sovereignty, blue for the Caribbean Sea, and red for the blood shed in the war of independence against Spain. Seven stars are the provinces that signed the 1811 declaration of independence; the eighth is the province of Guayana.
History
Francisco de Miranda designed the tricolour, flew it on his 1806 expedition, and the Congress of 1811 adopted it. Simón Bolívar decreed an eighth star for Guayana on 20 November 1817, but the flag used from 1930 to 2006 had seven. In November 2005 President Hugo Chávez announced that the eighth star would be added. The Law on the National Flag, Coat of Arms and Anthem was published on 9 March 2006, and the new civil flag dates from 12 March.
The 2006 changes also redrew the coat of arms on the state flag. Its white horse now gallops to the left, and a bow and arrow and a machete were added.
Earlier flags of Venezuela
- 1811–1812Francisco de Miranda's yellow, blue and red tricolour of the First Republic
- 1930–2006Yellow, blue and red tricolour with seven white stars
Flags that look like this one
All three are yellow, blue and red. Colombia's yellow stripe fills the top half. Ecuador uses the same layout with its coat of arms in the centre. Venezuela has three equal stripes and an arc of eight white stars.
Flags of Venezuela's neighbours
Sources
- Wikipedia: Flag of Venezuela
- Flags of the World: Venezuela
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Read how we research flags in our editorial policy, or report a mistake.
