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Bolivian flags of 1851-1855

Last modified: 2016-05-08 by alex garofolo
Keywords: pyramid | mountain | tree | wreath | error | monochrome flag: green | conchupata |
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Flag of 1851-1854

Flag of Bolivia
by António Martins, 22 Apr 1999

In 1851 the flag of today was introduced, the coat of arms being modified (once again) in 1888.07.14, thus being the introduction date of all sources.
Ralf Stelter, 13 Jun 1999

The Bolivian sequence of colours was set by Decree of President Manuel Belzu (as red-yellow-green) on 5 November 1851, and has not varied in any of the subsequent legislation of which I am aware (11 July 1888 and 30 July 2004).
Christopher Southworth, 27 Jun 2005

The Conchupata lighthouse (Faro de Conchupata; with pictures) is a mirador located in the center of the town of Oruro. This is the place where the national flag of Bolivia was hoisted for the first time on 7 November 1851 under the government of Manuel Isidoro Belzu. It is therefore possible that the official hoisting in Oruro took place only two days later, which might explain the slight discrepancy between the two sources quoted above.

La Patria, 12 June 2006, gives 5 November 1851 as the date of first hoisting of the national flag on the Conchupata lighthouse. The lighthouse is recognized by law as a National Monument. Preparing the celebration of the 400th anniversary of the foundation of Oruro (1 November 2006), members of the Consultative Council for the celebration have asked the local authorities to draft a decree prescribing the use of the Conchapata lighthouse. They say that it should be considered as an official symbol of the town of Oruro. The Council also requested the permanent presence of a honour guard protecting the monument.

Ivan Sache, 17 Jun 2006


Flag of 1854-1855 (?)

Flag of Beni
image by Jaume Ollé, 02 Nov 1996

The book Wappen und Flaggen aller Nationen, by Smith and Neubecker [smi81g], at the chapter about the flag of Libya is a little notice about unicolour-flags:

Thow there are several examples of one-coloured national flags in history, for example
  • Sansibar (red 1856-1963)
  • France (white 1815-1830)
  • and Bolivia (green 1854-1855),
it is very unusual. Maybe because one colour makes it difficult to put symbolic inside.

I never heard before of a green flag of Bolivia and couldn’t find infos about this on line or the little books I bought in Bolivia about the national flag. (I only know, that the Bolivian department of Beni has a green flag.)

J. Patrick Fischer, 31 Jul 2004

J. G. Fuentes [fue75] shows the variants of the Bolivian flag 1825-26, the Bolivian monochrome official flags 1854-55 and the arms of Bolivia 1888-c1900 and since c1900.
Dave Martucci, 19 Mar 2000


Red-white-red flag

Red-white-red flag
image by Jorge Candeias, 09 Jun 1999

The very same coat-of-arms in a quite different background shows on a flag plate apparently from 1888, more recent than the current flag of Bolivia. The flag shown of the flag plate is a “spanish” triband of white-red-white with the arms centered on a white disc.
Jorge Candeias, 09 Jun 1999

This image is obviousely a mistake in the plate. They changed the upper and lower stripe from the original colors to white and the size of the stripes seems 3:4:3 instead the correct 2:4:2 (spanish pattern). The sun and the llama are missing except for some maroon part visible that probably must be the llama, and also are missing other devices except the palm (which must be an árbol del pán).
Jaume Ollé, 11 Jun 1999


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