Venezuela Flag - Bolivarian Republic of

The Venezuelan flag was designed by Francisco in 1806 to mark his expedition to liberate Venezuela. Consisting of three equal horizontal stripes of yellow, blue and red, it first appeared on March 12, 1806 at Jacmel, Haiti last stop before Venezuela. Raised over Venezuela on August 3rd, 1806 at La Vela de Coro it was adopted by the National Congress in 1811.

German writer and philosopher Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was the inspiration for the flag’s colours. Miranda’s adventures in the American Revolutionary War inspired Goethe to write and encouraging him to follow his destiny and create “a place where primary colors would not distorted.’ Miranda adopted the yellow, blue and red standard of the Bürgerwache of Hamburg with yellow symbolising wealth of, blue, indicating courage, and red, Spanish independence.

During the first half of the 19th century, seven stars were added to the flag to represent the seven colonial provinces of Barcelona, Barinas, Caracas, Cumaná, Margarita, Mérida, and Trujillo that had united against Spain in the War of Independence. After the Guayana campaign, President Simón Bolívar decreed that an eighth star be added to represent Guayana. On February 19th, 1954 the Coat of Arms was added to the flag.

In 2006, President Hugo Chávez announced that the eighth star would be added in 2011 to fulfill to Bolívar's 1817 decree. This controversial proposal has been praised by the government and rejected by the opposition who felt that greater needs existed for the funds necessary to convert venues flying the flag. Another amendment whereby the horse on the national coat of arms was reversed to point left was criticised as a reflection of Chávez's political leanings. Officially, the horse is running with "independence and freedom.”