The Flags of the Americas: Threads of History and Identity

What a flag is for

Vexillology is the study of flags, and most of it comes down to one question: how does a rectangle of cloth end up standing in for a country? Flags mark sovereignty, but they also do emotional work. The same flag goes up for an Olympic win and to half mast for a national death, and both readings are understood without explanation.

Argentina and the Sun of May

Light blue and white stripes, a golden sun in the middle.

The design dates from Argentina's pursuit of independence from Spain. The sun at the center, the Sun of May, refers to the Inca sun god and to the beginning of a new country. It still flies in public spaces and at sporting events.

Barbados and the broken trident

Three vertical bands, ultramarine and gold, with a black trident in the middle.

The trident is broken, and that is the point: it marks the break from Britain at independence in 1966. Ultramarine is the sea and gold is the sand, which is the easy part of the reading. The trident is the part that carries the argument.

Brazil and the sky over Rio

Green, yellow and blue, with a globe of stars and the motto "Ordem e Progresso".

The colors are read as the country's forests, its resources and its sky. The stars reproduce the night sky over Rio de Janeiro at the moment of independence in 1822, so the flag records a specific hour rather than a general idea.

Two Caribbean flags

Jamaica's bold colors stand for the struggles and the hopes of its people.

Cuba's red, white and blue came out of the fight for independence and are read as freedom and equality.

Colonial history runs through both, as it does through almost every flag in the region.

Canada's maple leaf

Red and white, one leaf.

The maple leaf has stood for the land and its people for a long time, and the flag's plainness is what lets it stand for everyone who lives there rather than for one group in particular.

Flags change

Flags are not fixed. Revolutions, independence movements and social change all leave marks on them, and Argentina altered its flag on gaining independence. Countries still adjust colors and add symbols when the identity the flag is meant to carry has moved on.