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Colombia - Political Flags - Part 5

Last modified: 2021-08-26 by klaus-michael schneider
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Editorial Remark: It must be noted that all the opinions are of the authors and not of FOTW. Our site is non-political and concentrates only on vexillological issues.


See also:


(New) Pacific (Rim) United Guerrillas (Nuevas) Guerrillas Unidas del Pacífico)

image by Esteban Rivera, 17 September 2018
cropped image taken from the original communiqué, seen here: http://pagina10.com/web/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/panfleto-intimidante.jpg, source: http://pagina10.com/web/guerrillas-unidas-del-pacifico-realizan-amenazas-en-el-charco-narino/)

The (Nuevas) Guerrillas Unidas del Pacífico (English: (New) Pacific (Rim) United Guerrillas) is an armed group in Colombia whose presence is mainly located in the Department of Nariño, as seen in this map: http://www.planv.com.ec/sites/default/files/mapa-5_0.jpg  (source: http://www.planv.com.ec/investigacion/investigacion/6-mapas-entender-lo-que-pasa-la-frontera-norte-ecuador). It is a dissident armed group that was once part of FARC. This group emerged ca. 2017 and it is said to be composed mainly of former members of the "Columna Móvil 'Daniel Aldana'", of the Frente 29 (English: Mobile Column 'Daniel Aldana', of the 29th Front).
Sources: https://www.semana.com/nacion/multimedia/lo-que-piensan-las-farc-sobre-milicias-disidentes-en-tumaco/517298,
http://www.farc-ep.co/desbrozando-ideas/esperamos-sus-hechos-presidente.html
https://www.minuto30.com/,
https://colombia2020.elespectador.com/tags/columna-movil-daniel-aldana,
https://www.eltiempo.com/justicia/,
https://www.eltiempo.com/justicia/conflicto-y-narcotrafico/abatidos-disidentes-de-farc-265808,
https://www.eltiempo.com/justicia/conflicto-y-narcotrafico/ultimos-golpes-contra-las-disidencias-de-farc-266824,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4yOgJUuK5U,
https://www.semana.com/nacion/articulo/guacho-y-david-la-debacle-de-los-dos-mayores-narcos-del-pacifico/583387 and
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estructura_militar_de_las_FARC

They way in which this type of splinter groups arrange their colors is based on their armbands (to identify themselves as members of an armed organization). A digital image of the armband is seen here: http://s3.amazonaws.com/elcomun/carpeta_ckfinder/files/andres/GUP.jpg (source: https://semanarural.com)

Logo of the organization

image by Esteban Rivera, 17 September 2018

cropped image taken from the original communiqué, seen here: http://www.derechos.org/nizkor/colombia/img/TumacoGUP1.jpg, source: http://www.derechos.org/nizkor/colombia/doc/tumaco3.html)

Flag (variant) with inscription below

image by Esteban Rivera, 17 September 2018

cropped image taken from the original communiqué, seen here: http://www.derechos.org/nizkor/colombia/img/TumacoGUP1.jpg, source: http://www.derechos.org/nizkor/colombia/doc/tumaco3.html)

Here's photographic evidence of the existence of a flag for this group: https://i1.wp.com/www.acore.org.co (source: http://www.acore.org.co/noticias/narino-sitiado-las-disidencias-david-guacho/). In the image, which is a horizontal flag, with two equally divided horizontal stripes (top being red and bottom being green) one can see that it is the flag of one of its factions. It reads "GUERRILLAS UNIDAS/DEL PACÍFICO" (English: Pacific/United Guerrillas) (on top) and "COLUMNA MÓVIL/ DON YE" (English: Mobile Column "Mr. Y" (in reference to one Commander, named Yeison Segura Mina (hence the nickname "Mr. Y" for the initial of his name) (on bottom).
Sources: https://lasillavacia.com/historia/las-farc-mataron-don-y-58754
and http://pacifista.co/quien-era-alias-don-ye-un-guerrillero-disidente-o-un-paramilitar-disfrazado/
Esteban Rivera, 17 September 2018


Patriotic Union (Unión atriótica)

image by Zoltan Horvath, 24 November 2013

image by Zoltan Horvath, 24 November 2013

image by Zoltan Horvath, 24 November 2013

image by Jaume Ollé, 19 November 2013

Unión Patriótica (UP- Unión Patriótica, or Patriotic Union in English), was a political movement set up under the 1984 peace talks between the Colombian government and the Farc guerrilla. The party was established in 1985 and it was the Farc's official political movement, with cadres from both the Farc and the Colombian Communist Party.
Some UP members even reached seats in Congress, as well as important posts on the State and Local political level. However, due to the extermination campaign by newly created paramilitary forces as well as some official government action against this party, it was diminished and it later faded away.
It officially ceased to exist under the new electoral code in 2006, but its members left or went underground much before that. For more information on this party please refer to wikipedia.
E.R., 3 September 2007

The UP has again gained its political status again due to a controversial ruling by the Consejo de Estado on July 2103, enabling its members to run for political posts.
The previously reported flag is incorrect, as the color combination to this party is green and yellow, to symbolize a "third way" in Colombia, because when this party was created, emerged as an offshoot of the FARC and they stood for a third way to end the political domination of bipartisan Conservatism and they stood for a third way to end the political domination of bipartisan Conservatism and Liberalism in the country during the XXth century, as seen in the following pictures in recent rallies, showing the actual flag (Wikipedia file) which is a yellow horizontal flag, with the letters UP in green inside a book, resembling the coat of arm of the FARC regarding the book. Additional UP flag is the same yellow background flag with the name of the party Unión (top) and Patriótica (bottom) in capital green letters.
Pictures of the flags can be seen here:
- http://lasillavacia.com/sites/default/files/interactive_pictures_1/union_patriotica-8.jpg
- http://lasillavacia.com/sites/default/files/interactive_pictures_1/union_patriotica-2.jpg
- http://lasillavacia.com/sites/default/files/interactive_pictures_1/union_patriotica-22.jpg
- http://lasillavacia.com/sites/default/files/interactive_pictures_1/union_patriotica-26.jpg
Source: http://lasillavacia.com/historia/las-paradojas-de-una-rosa-llamada-46105
Esteban Rivera, 19 November 2013

In Flag Report 64 were published some yellow-green flags of UP. One of them is depicted above.
Jaume Ollé, 19 November 2013

Previously Reported Flag

image by Eugene Ipavec (based on original by Jaume Ollé), 3 September 2007


Poder ciudadano

image located by Esteban Rivera, 9 August 2017

image located by Esteban Rivera, 9 August 2017

In the upcoming 2018 Presidential elections, several candidates are running through signatures and/or alliances.

Such is the case of Piedad Córdoba, a former Senator, who today launched her bid on behalf of the movement "Poder Ciudadano". According to their official Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/pg/PoderCiudadanos) it was launched on February 9, 2013 and it was a movement inside the Liberal Party.

This movement dates back as far as October 2005, when former Senator Cordoba was stripped (for the first time) of her seat in Congress (the second time was back in 2010). She then began promoting a left-wing approach inside the Liberal party, to prevent this party in supporting the reelection for President of (then incumbent President) Álvaro Uribe (who would eventually win and be reelected by the same movement he was elected in the first place) and had to run (again) as a independent candidate (with multiple parties endorsing his campaign) under the political movement called "Primero Colombia" (English: Colombia First ) (official website: http://primerocolombia.com/ , dead link, accessible through here: http://pensamientocolombia.org/) (sources: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poder_Ciudadano_Siglo_XXI, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colombia_First and http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/co%7D.html#over).

The movement in the beginning was called "Poder Ciudadano Siglo XXI" (Citizen Power 21st Century) (source: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poder_Ciudadano_Siglo_XXI).

The flag is a pink horizontal flag with the logo (in inverted colors) which is a map of Colombia merged as an extension of her head forming the shape of a turban, a garment she usually wears, as seen here in this picture published today: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DGuD_xFXgAASzyf.jpg (source: https://twitter.com/piedadcordoba/status/894954329538531329, from her official Twitter account @piedadcordoba (https://twitter.com/piedadcordoba). The flags are seen all throughout this video:
https://twitter.com/PoderCiudadanos/status/894959928594620416 (source: @PoderCiudadanos, https://twitter.com/PoderCiudadanos) official Twitter account).

Its previous logo is seen here: http://www.afrocubaweb.com/images/poder-ciudadano.jpg and its first logo is seen here: https://www.facebook.com/PoderCiudadanos

For additional information go to Poder Ciudadano (official website): http://www.poderciudadano.com.co/
Esteban Rivera
, 9 August 2017


Popular Liberation Army (EPL - Ejército Popular de Liberación)

Original EPL Flag

image by Jaume Ollé

New EPL Flag

image by Eugene Ipavec, 29 July 2007

Esperanza, Paz y Libertad (Old Flag)

image by Jaume Ollé

Esperanza, Paz y Libertad (New Logo)
image by E.R., 23 March 2005

From www.tkb.org:
Mother tongue Name: Ejército Popular de Liberación (EPL). Base of Operation: Colombia.  
Founding Philosophy: The Popular Liberation Army grew out of the Colombian Communist movement of the 1960s. In 1967, the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party (ML-CP) broke off from the larger communist political party, the Colombian Communist Party. Dissatisfied with the political chaos of 1960's Colombia, the ML-CP augmented its political organization with an armed wing in 1967. The new group soon embarked on terrorist activities under the name People's Liberation Army. Both the ML-CP and EPL advocated the Maoist ideology of sparking a national socialist revolution by beginning in the countryside. Efforts to indoctrinate the peasantry largely failed and the EPL never reached the size of larger Colombian terrorist insurgencies such as the FARC and ELN. In an effort to expand their support base, the EPL abandoned strict Maoism in 1980. The group continued, however, to work toward the goal of overthrowing the democratically elected Colombian government and replacing it with a communist state. Furthermore, the EPL continued to pursue these insurrectionist goals through terrorist activities.  
Current Goals: The EPL was one of the principal groups that pushed for a peace accord with the Colombian government in the early 1980s. With the signing of the peace accord in 1984, the EPL attempted to join mainstream Colombian politics. Their efforts were blocked, however, by the newly formed right-wing paramilitary groups, such as the ACCU. In an effort to derail the efforts to grant the politicization of the EPL, the right-wing paramilitary groups attacked political representatives of the EPL. The peace accord soon unraveled as other leftist groups, the paramilitaries, and the Colombian Army continued their attacks on one another.  
Following the failure of the peace accord, the EPL attempted to rejoin the violent fray involving the guerillas and Colombian security forces, but this attempt proved futile. The EPL essentially disbanded in 1991, when it signed a truce with the Colombian government, although a breakaway faction operating under the same name refused to accept the truce. This breakaway faction continues to operate today, despite the arrest of its co-founder and principal leader, Francisco Caraballo, in 1994.
I recommend you read the article on wikipedia to understand the flags.
E.R., 23 March 2005

EPL had lost political protagonism over the years and it is basically only active in the North Eastern region of the Department of Antioquia known as Urabá.
More information on Hope, Peace, and Liberty (Esperanza Paz y Libertad) at wikipedia.
E.R., 12 August and 3 September 2007


image located by Esteban Rivera, 21 October 2015

On October 2, 2015 a variant of the group EPL was shown on local tv news network Caracol.
Image cropped image from tv news.
Esteban Rivera, 21 October 2015


Popular National Alliance (ANAPO - Alianza Nacional Popular)

image by Eugene Ipavec, 17 July 2007

Horizontal blue-white-red. Similar colors to M19 Guerilla Movement flag. Source is Smith (1975) [smi75a], pp. 340-341 ("Symbols in politics"). Smith says that these are real flags and not only party emblems, which may differ in colours when used as emblem or in a flag.
Ivan Sache, 6 August 1999

ANAPO (Alianza Nacional Popular, People's National Alliance) was founded by Lt. General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla in 1961). The ANAPO lasted more than three decades, gaining importance on the State and Local level as well, but it ceased to exist in 1998. Many of its members are now part of the PDI (Polo Democrático Independiente).
Flag appears at Registraduría's official website.
E.R., 17 July 2007