The country with the most stable democracy on the continent discloses important details and never before revealed about its national flag; white, blue, and red has become an emblem that we, “Ticos”, have tattooed on our souls. However, it was not always our flag and very few know about the curiosities that are behind the first flags that represented us, not only inside but also outside our borders.
Its history
We have had a significant number of flags; what is more, even historians do not agree on how many there have been. That is, the flag with the colors white, blue, and red that currently represents us has not been the first or the only one.
It was after the political independence proclaimed by the Central American provinces from the Spanish Colonial Empire in 1821, that the Interim Government Board of the Province, in its session of May 10th, 1823, was free to design our first flag. The Board agreed that it provisionally adopted a white flag with a red star in the center. This flag was maintained from June 8th, 1823, until March 4th, 1824.
Going back a little bit in history, it is precisely attributed to the fact that our first flag was inscribed with a star known as David’s Star, even before this symbol was assigned to Israel. Juan Mora Fernández, our First Head of State, had strong links with the Jewish-Sephardic people of Costa Rica. Once again, the mixture and closeness that somehow the people of Costa Rica had with the Hebrew culture are revealed.
Our current flag
This was designed as such on September 29th, 1848, when the new coat of arms design was also created for the first time. It can be defined as a tricolor flag which is constituted of at least 5 horizontally positioned stripes, in which a red stripe stands out. Positioned at the center of the flag, it is located right in the middle of 2 white stripes, with these followed by a strip of the smaller blue stripe.
In the same way, in this center, a white stripe with the national coat of arms embroidered in medium size, thus constituting a true beauty of a flag that allows “Ticos” to differentiate themselves from the rest of the world. It should be noted that these strips have a 1: 1: 2: 1: 1 diameter proportion.
Our flag’s colors: their meaning
It is said that each of the colors that make up a flag, do so with an end, that is to say, a meaning, this is basically to make known the aspirations of unity for a nation, by attributing a reason of being to each particular color. With our national pavilion happens exactly the same thing.
Red – It represents, love, passion, but also reminds each inhabitant of the bloodshed that our heroes shed in the struggle for the freedom of the country.
White – It has a quite important meaning since this color represents the peace that reigns in Costa Rica, it is also attributed to the representation of one of the most perfect democracies that currently exist on the globe.
Blue – It has a special representation, which reveals that the color itself speaks of the richness of the oceans that border our country and in the same way the Costa Rican sky.
For all this, each Costa Rican should always be proud of our land represented by the colors of our flag.