Hold on to your hats, kids because this week, we're staying down in South America and we're getting our condor on with that most equatorial of countries, Ecuador! Adopted September 26th, 1860 for national usage, the flag of Ecuador is almost identical to the flag of Colombia save the national arms that were placed int he center of the flag- and there's a reason for that.
See kids, once upon a time there used to be a country called Gran Colombia, which made up Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Venezuela, chunks of Peru, Brazil and Guyana and Ecuador seceded from the federation in 1830 to form a Republic. The 1819 flag of Greater Colombia was restored in 1860 and the similarity between the two flags has dated since then.
The yellow, blue and red of the horizontal tricolor were taken from the colors of one of South America's great Liberators, Francisco de Miranda. The yellow is the color of the federation, the blue recalls independence from Spain and the red symbolizes courage. The Arms of Ecuador at the center break down as follows: the Andean condor symbolizes bravery and liberty. The four symbols on either side of the sun above the mountain represent the months from March to May. The mountain is Mount Chimborazo, South America's highest peak, the ship at the mouth of the river (the Guyas River) represents commerce and the axe and fasces at the bottom are symbols of Republicanism.
Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Ecuador! And remember until next time keep your flags flying, FREAK or otherwise!
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