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Bolivia

by Mark Sensen, 1995-11-25

Flag adopted 1851-10-31, and confirmed 1888-07-14.
Jaume Oll�, 1996-01-19

History of the Bolivian Flag
Bolivian naval ensign

History of the Bolivian Flag

Flag of 1825

by Jaume Oll�, 1996-08-20

In 1825 the Bolivian Assembly determined the shield and national flag:

Shield: three quarters of blue field and five silver stars (for the five departments); the first quarter was in the center; the second, split into two spaces, had an alpaca and a tree; and the middle one the hill of Potosi. In the upper part was the Frigian cap between two genies that held a tape with the name of the nation (adopted the same year)
Flag: two colors: green and dark red (in spanish "punzo"), being the band of dark red between two of green; in the center five ovals formed by laurel and tree branches and within each one a guilded star (one for each department: Charcas or Potosi, La Paz, Cochabamba, Santa Cruz and ?Antofagasta?). The flag was adopted on 1825-08-17.
Source: "Coleccion oficial de leyes, decretos, etcetera desde 1825 hasta 1903"
(I have only a short resume but the complete collection, including 77 volumes, is in the public library of La Paz, and was published for first time in 1891.) I do not have the drawing of the flag and so this is my interpretation from the description, evidently subject to rectification
Jaume Oll�, 1996-08-20

Flag of 1838

by Jaume Oll�, 1996-07-26

In 1838 General Santa Cruz created the Peruvian-Bolivian Confederation. Bolivia was one of three states in the confederation and used a new flag. In 1839, General Santa Cruz was overthrown and the confederation was disbanded. This flag was first adopted, however, on 1826-07-25.
Jaume Oll�, 1996-07-26

That flag was used until 1888-07-14 when the national colors in the current order were fixed.
Jaume Oll�, 1996-08-20

Bolivian naval ensign

by Stuart Notholt, 1995-02-11

The red-yellow-green civil flag of Bolivia is authorized for use as a civil ensign by Bolivian registered shipping, despite the fact that Bolivia has no coastline. Fair enough. But Bolivia also has a naval ensign - which normally would imply a coastline and a navy to defend it.
The flag is light blue with a Bolivian flag in the canton. There are nine yellow stars below and to the right of the canton and a larger tenth star in the fly.
This is a good example of a flag being used to maintain a geopolitical claim. Bolivia had access to the Pacific until 1884 and getting it back has been one of the dominant trends of Bolivian domestic and international politics ever since. To cut a long and complicated story short, in 1879 Chile declared war on Peru and Bolivia which had, in alliance, seized various territories, including valuable nitrate mines, along the Pacific coast. The Bolivians and Peruvians lost. In 1904 the Chilean control over the coastal access lost by Bolivia was confirmed by treaty, the deal being that Bolivia should have access to the port of Arica via a railway to be built at Chilean expense. This was completed in 1913, but the Bolivians renewed their territorial claim in 1918. In 1932, Bolivia tried to gain access to the Atlantic by going to war with Paraguay. Quite how this was supposed to work, given that Paraguay is itself landlocked, is something I've not seen satisfactorily explained. Anyway, Bolivia lost disastrously, and Paraguay annexed about a third of Bolivia's territory. In 1962 the whole business flared up again and Bolivia broke off diplomatic relations with Chile. In 1975, Chile suggested a land swap as part of a ackage which would give Bolivia sea access, and a year later Peru came up with further suggestions. The stalemate continues, although discussions were held between Chile and Bolivia in 1991. The meeting, held between 18/22 March, coincided with Bolivia's 'Day of the Sea' the timing and symbolism of which were fairly obvious.
The 9 small stars on the Bolivian naval flag represent the current 9 provinces of Bolivia while the tenth symbolizes Bolivia's irredentist claim for sea access.
Stuart Notholt, 1996-02-11