Twelve countries, and the flags cluster tightly around a shared independence history. Learn the Gran Colombia trio first, then the rest fall into place.
The Gran Colombia trio
Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela all descend from the yellow-blue-red flag of Gran Colombia, the state founded by Simón Bolívar in 1819 that broke apart in 1831. The colours are traditionally read as the golden wealth of the New World (yellow), the ocean separating it from Spain (blue), and the blood of independence (red).
- Colombia — the simplest: a double-width yellow band on top, then blue, then red, with no emblem.
- Ecuador — the same three colours in the same order, with the national coat of arms (featuring a condor) in the centre.
- Venezuela — equal-width bands, an arc of eight white stars in the centre (one added in 2006 for the province of Guayana), and the coat of arms in the upper hoist canton on the state flag.
The rest
- Brazil — a green field, a yellow rhombus, and a blue celestial globe showing 27 stars (the states and Federal District) as the sky over Rio at the moment the republic was declared, crossed by a white band reading "Ordem e Progresso".
- Argentina — three horizontal bands, light blue-white-light blue, with the golden Sun of May in the centre.
- Uruguay — nine alternating white and blue horizontal stripes (for the nine original departments) with a Sun of May in a white canton; clearly influenced by the flag of the United States.
- Chile — white over red with a blue square in the upper hoist bearing a single white star, "la estrella solitaria".
- Peru — three vertical bands, red-white-red; a plain civil version and a state version with the coat of arms.
- Bolivia — horizontal red-yellow-green, with the coat of arms on the state flag. Bolivia also officially flies the Wiphala, a square rainbow checkerboard representing the Indigenous peoples of the Andes.
- Paraguay — red-white-blue horizontal, and the only national flag with a different emblem on each side: the national coat of arms on the front, the treasury seal on the back.
- Guyana — "The Golden Arrowhead": a green field with a long yellow triangle edged in white, and a red triangle at the hoist edged in black.
- Suriname — red-green horizontal bands separated by thin white lines, with a large yellow five-pointed star in the centre.
South America is a quick win — set the continent filter and clear it in a single session.
Practise the 12 →