Flag Day: Know the history of its designs

This Tuesday, June 7, on the anniversary of the battle of Arica and in tribute to our hero Francisco Bolognesi, the ‘Day of the Flag’ is commemorated in our country. In our history we have had four flag designs, all of them combined the color red and white in different ways until it became as we know it today.

But, is it true that the first flag was inspired by a dream that the liberator José de San Martín had? The historian Natalia Majluf, explained, for the program ‘It happened in Peru’, that no. That idea was born from a story by the playwright and novelist from Ayacucho, Abraham Valdelomar.

“There is no explanation of the time that allows us to understand why San Martín chose those colors. We must remember that this idea that it was a dream that he saw the parihuanas crossing the sky is actually a story by Abraham Valdelomar, but that it has melted into the collective memory, now we imagine that it is the legend of origin”, maintained Natalia Majluf.

The historian specified that there are those who believe that the flag, especially because of its red color, evoked the Inca mascaipacha. While there are other hypotheses that speak that the white color was taken from the Argentine flag and the red color from the Chilean flag, because they were the countries that came together to liberate Peru.

first flag

José de San Martín from the port of Paracas decreed in October 1820 the creation of the Peruvian flag and coat of arms. In addition, he determined that a canvas 8 feet high by 6 feet wide would be the size of the flag. The design was two crossed lines that form four triangles, two red and two white. In the middle, laurels were placed that surrounded hills, the sea and the sun. On July 28, 1821, the independence of Peru was proclaimed with this flag.

“In the center it had this representation of the hills and the sun, because the sun is very important in the Andean world. The theme of the hills has to do with the panaca and the pacarina, which is the origin of the Andean world.”, told the historian, Carlota Casalino, to the program ‘It happened in Peru’.

second flag

José Bernardo de Tagle y Portocarrero, better known as Torre Tagle, who ruled Peru between 1822 and 1824, argued that the flag designed by San Martín had drawbacks for its preparation. The new design had big changes: the red color was placed on top and bottom, while the white color was in the middle. The design of the hills and laurels was eliminated, and only the red sun remained. The new design was established on March 15, 1822.

third flag

The second flag only lasted two months because it was confused from a distance with the Spanish flag, explains Natalia Majluf. “Luis de la Cruz, a tall Chilean officer who was part of the liberating expedition and was general director of the Peruvian Navy, recommended that the horizontal stripes be changed to vertical stripes.”, said the historian.

Then, Torre Tagle reformed the flag through a decree on May 31, 1822 in which it was decided that the red bands would go on the sides and the white one in the middle. But the red sun in the center of the flag remained the same.

fourth flag

On February 26, 1825, the Inaugural Congress of Peru ratified the design of the Torre Tagle flag, but eliminated the red sun in the middle. Instead, they placed the coat of arms. “Since 1950 the shield has not been used in formal presentations of the Peruvian flag. It was only decided to continue using the shield for the national flag”, the page reminds us Bicentennial of Peru.pe

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