The World’s Most Romantic Flag

I’d never have thought of a national flag as a romantic symbol until I heard this story that I am about to tell.

Alvaro and I were trolling around downtown Bogotá where we saw a Colombian flag waving in the wind.  I asked him why yellow, blue and red, he said he had heard different versions of what the colors of the flag represented:

Version 1
Yellow – loyalty
Blue – justice
Red – victory in battles

Version 2
Yellow – soil and gold
Blue – the seas and the sky
Red – blood shed by those who fought for the country

Here comes the story…

Version 3
Francisco de Miranda was a revolutionary known for his huge contribution to South American independence against Spanish rule.  He left Venezuela to go to Europe in his early 20s and was the first Latin American to initiate political contact with Russia.  He received his colonel rank from Catherine the Great, Russia’s longest-ruling female leader, and was in love with the empress regnant. 

Miranda promised Catherine the Great he would design a flag to celebrate her beauty.

After Miranda returned to North America, in his military ship, he raised a flag with three horizontal stripes of yellow, blue and red where yellow symbolized his lover’s blonde hair, blue – her eyes, and red – her lips.

Isn’t that romantic?

When Venezuela declared its independence from Spain in 1811, the congress adapted Miranda’s design and made the tricolor the Republic’s national flag.

Some studies say it lacks evidence that Miranda and Catherine The Great actually had an affair, but I’ll always remember this story because to me it is more enticing than the other two color symbolisms.

Flags that look alike

Wait – I was talking about the Colombian flag that I saw in Bogotá.  What is it to do with Venezuela?

Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador (excluding the Galapagos Islands), Panama, and parts of Peru and Brazil used to be one country called Gran Colombia.  In 1831, due to political differences and regional tensions among the peoples, Gran Colombia broke into Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador, and Panama was separated from Colombia in 1903.

Coming from the same family, the flags of Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador are all variations of Miranda’s signature tricolor design.  That explains why the three flags look so similar.