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(2:3)
image
by Željko Heimer, 22 May 2001
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The diplomatic and consular flag of Colombia is the national
flag with a black star in canton, according to Flaggenbuch [neu92] and Album des Pavillons [pay00].
The specifications given in Flaggenbuch are:
- the star is inscribed in a circle whose diameter equals 0.26 of
the flag width
- the horizontal distance between the circle and the flag hoist
equals 0.24 of the flag width
- the star is vertically centered in the yellow stripe
Ivan Sache, 30 April 2000
At Album des Pavillons [pay00]
- Ambassador or Consul (2:3) - National flag with five-pointed
black star in canton. In my humble opinion, this flag is used on
naval ships as mark of the high diplomatic official being on
board, and not as a personal flag of a diplomat, nor on embassies
and similar. Ivan Sache quotes Flaggenbuch for the
dimensions and position of the star, but these maybe be obsolete
today? Did anyone had a chance to check what flag is used at the
diplomatic building of Colombia in your city?
Jan informed us about the practice in Prague of using
"pure" national flag instead of he prescribed civil
ensign. Is this an exception (and error) of the diplomats in
Czech Republic, or may it be the rule - de facto flag, in spite of
the law requiring differently. I browsed the Net quickly though
the Colombian diplomatic missions that have their pages on line,
but I did not get any photo that would prove either.
Željko Heimer, 22 May 2001
Gustavo Tracchia FF debated the existence of a Consular flag, which was
amended in the 1936 new legislation, in the translated version of the "FLAGS AND
EMBLEMS OF COLOMBIA" by Pedro Julio Dousdebés, as follows: "Later a merchant
flag and consular flag were added, having at the center of the flag a blue
circle with a red border and an eight-pointed white star in the middle. In
1936 a new and different consular flag with a five-pointed star at the upper
hoist replaced the previous merchant flag, but this flag is no longer used"
(as illustrated on Plate IV, No. 11). However the original publication in
Spanish titled "LAS INSIGNIAS DE COLOMBIA" (Colombia's
Ensigns,
https://academiahistoria.org.co/boletines/BHA-274.pdf) Volume XXIV, Issue
274, August 1937 cites the following:
"(Illustration No. 13) bandera
consular, está en pugna con lo dispuesto por el parágrafo del artículo 2°
del Decreto 861 de 1924" ("[The] consular flag is in conflict with
the provisions of paragraph 2 of Article 2 of Decree 861 of 1924)." (p.46).
Now when looking at the respective legislation mentioned by Dousdebés,
"Decreto 861 del 17 de Mayo de 1924" (Decree 861 of May 17, 1924,
https://www.suin-juriscol.gov.co/viewDocument.asp?id=1728068), it states the
following (original in Spanish):
"Article 2. The Colombian merchant flag,
in accordance with "Decreto 309 del 28 de Abril de 1890"(https://www.suin-juriscol.gov.co/viewDocument.asp?id=1714710), shall be
three meters long by two meters wide. It shall bear in its center an
oval-shaped shield on a blue field, surrounded by a five-centimeter-wide band
of red velvet, with a white eight-pointed star ten centimeters in diameter.
The axes of the oval, within the blue field, are forty centimeters for the
longer side and thirty centimeters for the shorter.
Paragraph. This
shall be the flag used on Colombian naval vessels and at Legations and
Consulates accredited abroad."
Esteban Rivera, 12 May 2026
image located by Esteban Rivera, 12 May 2026
Nowhere in the above mentioned legislation
nor respective illustrations is the consular flag with a black five-pointed
star found. However it is mentioned in a different piece of legislation
issued later on in 1936. Probably this so called
Consular flag was short
lived, as the original author as well as comments by Gustavo Tracchia lead to
believe that further legislation abolished its use de jure.
Image from the original located at "FLAGS AND EMBLEMS OF COLOMBIA" by Pedro
Julio Dousdebés (
https://www.flagheritagefoundation.org/pdfs/FlagsAndEmblemsOfColombia.pdf,
English translation by Michael F. Hammer, 2016) Plate IV, No. 11, p. 41
Notice: the inscription in the illustration reads: "BANDERA llamada
"Consular" creada por Resolución de 1936" (FLAG called 'Consular'
established by Resolution of 1936). This is in reference to the document
issued by "Resolución de Octubre de 1936 del Ministerio de Guerra 'Ceremonial
marítimo de la Armada nacional de Colombia' (English: October 1936 Resolution
of the Ministry of War (now the Ministry of Defense) 'Maritime Ceremonial of the
National Navy of Colombia' in which a set of 13
illustrations is available, with the 13th being referred to as the Consular
flag (no illustration is available at the moment but it is considered to be
the Consular flag we currently display).
Esteban Rivera, 12 May 2026
image
by Željko Heimer, 22 May 2001
