^{This page is part of © FOTW Flags Of The World website}

Distrito Federal (Brazil)

13:18~ image by António Martins
Adopted 25 August 1969

Flag of Distrito Federal
Former Flag of Distrito Federal
Coat of Arms of Distrito Federal

Flag of Distrito Federal

The flag of the Federal District of Brasilia was instituted by decree on 25 August 1969. It was designed by the poet Guilherme de Almeida, an authority on heraldry. The target symbolizes peace, while the four arrows in the form of a cross connect with the indigenous tradition of the four cardinal points of the compass.
Jaume Ollé, 28 June 1996

The flag of the Federal District was instituted by decree no. 1090 of 25 August 1969. It is the white field that represents peace, while the green rectangle and the yellow cross (made of four arrows) refer to the national colors. The cross has a lozenge in the center formed by the feathers of the arrows, another reference to the national flag. The arrows are an allusion to the arrows of the indigenous peoples and indicate "the centrifugal action of power" emanating toward the four cardinal points of the compass. The cross also symbolizes the Southern Cross, the cross carried by the explorer Cabral, and Christian beliefs.
Joseph McMillan, 22 August 2002

From what's shown on the DF government website, http://www.df.gov.br/simbolos.asp, it looks like the right design has the ends of the feathers of the arrows touching to form a closed lozenge in the center, but the bars of the cross are clearly arrows.
Joseph McMillan, 15 January 2004

Former Flag of Distrito Federal

by Jaume Ollé and Joseph McMillan

According to Flagscan 55, the Distrito Federal had a different flag before 1969.
Jaume Ollé, 8 December 1999

Coat of Arms of Distrito Federal

From http://www.infobrasilia.com.br/bsb_hino.htm. Dov Gutterman, 29 May 1999