Adopted on February 25th, 1825 for national and civil usage, Peru was liberated from Spanish rule in 1819 by an army lead by Jose de San Martin (whose name is equally as impressive as Chile's liberator, Bernardo O'Higgins.) He ended up (along with the Peruvian Legion) choosing the colors for the flag, red and white, said to be the colors of the Inca Empire as well as a rising sun in the center, also dating back to the Incas. The sun was dropped in 1825 at the behest of another one of South America's liberators, Simon Bolivar- instead, you'll find many variants of the flag include the Arms of Peru. (Interestingly enough, the Wikipedia page for this flag says that the red represents the blood that was spilled for the fight for independence and the white represents peace and bravery. Hmmmm... oh and they also celebrate their flag day on June 7th.*)
The Arms of Peru have another little conflict to consider...
On the shield, there's a llama (or a vicuna, depending on who you talk too- hence the conflict), a cinchona tree (actually the source for quinine, a key ingredient in tonic water and, of course, gin and tonics.) and a cornucopia of gold symbolizing prosperity. Surrounding it, you have a palm branch on the left and a laurel one on the right, tied by a red and white ribbon (the national colors) with a oak crown above it. These represent God, gold and glory.
So there you have it, the flag of Peru! Remember, until next time, keep your flags flying- FREAK or otherwise!
*This is interesting because June 7th is the anniversary of the Battle of Arica, a key battle in the War of the Pacific. It has nothing to do with Peru's liberation and everything to do with a war I've never heard of at all. So, click the links and educate thyselves, people.
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