| Names | El Pendón Bicolor (The Bicolor Banner), La Enseña Nacional (The National Ensign) |
|---|---|
| Use | Civil flag and ensign |
| Proportion | 2:3 |
| Adopted | October 21, 1820 (original San Martín's version) February 25, 1825 (current triband version) |
| Design | Vertical triband with red outer bands and a single white middle band. |
| Variant flag of Peru | |
| Name | National ensign of Peru. (Pabellón nacional) |
| Use | State flag and state and naval ensign |
| Proportion | 2:3 |
| Design | Vertical triband with red outer bands and a single white middle band with the Coat of arms in the center. |
| Variant flag of Peru | |
| Name | War flag of Peru (Bandera de guerra) |
| Use | War flag |
| Proportion | 2:3 |
| Design | Vertical triband with red outer bands and a single white middle band with the National Coat of Arms in the center. |
| Variant flag of Peru | |
| Name | Naval jack of Peru (Bandera de proa) |
| Proportion | 1:1 |
| Design | A white square with the Coat of arms on a red field. |
The flag of Peru was adopted by the government of Peru in 1825. It is a vertical triband with red outer bands and a single white middle band. Depending on its use, it may be defaced with different emblems, and has different names. Flag day in Peru is celebrated on June 7, the anniversary of the Battle of Arica.
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The Peruvian coat of arms includes the vicuña (a relative of the llama and alpaca), the quina (cinchona) tree, and a cornucopia of gold.
The color red signifies the blood shed fallen while achieving Peruvian independence. Legend has it that red flamingos flying across a white cloudy sky from which the inspiration for the colors came. The story goes that inspiration for the flag came when Jose San Martin landed in the southern coastal town of Paracas in 1820 to launch the invasion of Peru and he saw a flock of flamingos take flight. Others say that the white represents peace and the red is the blood from the fighters of their freedom.
The national or civil flag (Spanish: bandera nacional) is used by citizens. It has no additions to the common form. It was changed several times; before 1950 it looked like the current national flag and was used as both the civil and state flag, when General Manuel A. Odría removed the coat of arms from the national flag and created the state and war flags.
The national ensign or state flag (pabellón nacional), used by state institutions, is marked with the coat of arms of Peru (escudo de armas). It is used during ceremonies in which the flag is hoisted in the presence of spectators (as opposed to a static, permanent flag). A form of this flag, the national standard (estandarte nacional) is used indoors by official and private institutions.
The war flag (Bandera de Guerra), similar to the state flag, is marked with the national shield (Escudo Nacional). It is flown by the Peruvian military and national police, and is typically inscribed with the service, name and number of the unit flying it.
The naval jack (bandera de proa) is not based on the triband; it is a square flag, consisting of a white square with the coat of arms (Escudo de Armas) on a red field. It is used on battleships, usually with the ensign of the highest-rank officer on board above it.
During the Viceroyalty of Peru, the colonial-era Spanish flag flew over Peru. In 1820, during the struggle for independence, British-born General William Miller hoisted in Tacna the first flag that represented the emerging country. Though the original flag itself is now lost, it was described as navy blue, defaced with a golden sun (possibly representing Inti).
The first flag of the Republic of Peru was created by General José de San Martín, and officially decreed on 21 October 1820. It is diagonally quartered, with white upper and lower fields, and the others red. The flag was defaced with an oval-shaped laurel crown in the center, surrounding a sun rising behind mountains by the sea. The symbolism of the flag's colors is uncertain, but according to Peruvian author Abraham Valdelomar, San Martín, having arrived on the coast of southern Pisco, was inspired by the colors of parihuanas, red-and-white flamingos. Historians of the early Peruvian Republic, such as Leguía y Martínez and Pareja Paz Soldán, give a different explanation, suggesting that San Martín took the red from the flag of Chile and the white from the flag of Argentina, recognizing the provenance of the men of the liberation army. The flag proved difficult to adopt due to its complex construction; without standardized measurements in place at the time, a triangular flag proved difficult to build.
In March 1822, José Bernardo de Tagle, Marquis of Torre Tagle and Supreme Delegate of the Republic, who replaced San Martín provisionally when the latter traveled to Guayaquil, decreed a new design for the flag. This consisted of a horizontal triband, with a white band between two red ones, and a golden sun at the center, similar to the flag of Argentina. This modification was justified, according to Torre Tagle, by the inconvenience in the construction of the previous version, among other issues.
A problem came up on the battlefields: the resemblance with the Spanish flag, especially from far away, made the distinction between the armies difficult, which led to a new change to the flag.
On 31 May 1822, Torre Tagle changed the flag's design again. The new version was a vertical triband, with red outer bands and a white middle band, with a golden sun representing Inti at the center.
On February 25 1825, during Simón Bolívar's administration, the Constituent Congress changed Cortés.
From 1836 to 1839, Peru was temporarily dissolved into the Republics of South Peru and North Peru, which joined Bolivia to form the Peru–Bolivian Confederation.
The South was formed first, thus adopting a new flag: a red vertical band on the left, with a golden sun and four small stars above (representing Arequipa, Ayacucho, Cuzco and Puno, the four Departments of the republic), and the right side divided into an upper green band and a lower white one. The North kept the currency and all symbols of the dissolved Peru, including its flag.
The flag of the Peru-Bolivian Confederation showed the coats of arms of Bolivia, South and North Peru, from left to right and slanted at different angles, on a red field, adorned by a laurel crown.
After the dissolution of the Confederation, the old Republic of Peru was restored to its 1836 composition, as were its national symbols.
In 1950, General Odría modified the national flag to its current form, removing the coat of arms from the civil flag, since it was used de facto, being easier to make. The national ensign and war flag were created for exclusive uses, each with a variant of the coat of arms, which was also changed slightly. These remain as the official flags today.
With some variation in the particular shade of red and the size proportions of the vertical bands, the design of the flag of Peru is similar to that of the flag of Canada, adopted in 1965. This does not include, of course, the traditional Canadian symbol of the maple leaf. Peru's flag is also similar to the Austrian flag which has the same colors but aligned horizontally.
The Marcha de Banderas (Spanish: March of Flags) is a military march sung during the flag raising. It was created in 1897 by SM Jose Salas Libornio who said President Nicolás de Piérola, he disagreed with the indiscriminate interpretation of the National Anthem at all official events that were derived from civic events. In December of that year was officially recognized to be executed in any official act.
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In all occasions today only 3 out of 4 verses of this flag anthem are sun instead.
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