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Uruguay

República Oriental del Uruguay; Oriental Republic of Uruguay

Last modified: 2025-01-11 by rob raeside
Keywords: uruguay | republica oriental del uruguay | sun: 16 rays | sun: face | stripes: 9 | canton: sun |
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[Flag of Uruguay] image by Zoltan Horvath, 10 December 2024
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Official name of the country

Eastern Province (Provincia Oriental) was the name of Uruguay before independence and meant that our country was at the east of Buenos Aires Province. This "Eastern" adjective was kept when the Independence of our country was achieved in 1828, but with a different meaning. From then on it was known as the República Oriental del Uruguay, i.e. the republic east side or the Uruguay River. This is still today the official name of Uruguay.
Jorge Cajarville, 16 June 1999

The official name of this country since the second constitution of 1917 is "República Oriental del Uruguay" (in the first constitution of 1830 was "Estado Oriental del Uruguay").
Rodolfo Tizzi, 10 July 2002

The name "República Oriental del Uruguay" with the article "el" contracted with the preposition "de". The reason is that the name comes from it being on the east bank of the Uruguay river. The literal English translation is really something pretty awkward like "The Republic of the East of Uruguay."
Michael Newman, 13 June 2004

Description of the flag

Ratio: 2:3

The constuction details make the 9 stripes of equal width and a square canton of 5 stripes in width.

The flag description that I used to have are: nine horizontal stripes of white and blue with white square canton covering five top stripes, including a yellow sun in splendor.
Željko Heimer, 20 July 2003

The external diameter of the Uruguayan sun is 11/15 the side of the square canton of the flag.
Francisco Gregoric, 5 July 2004

Design of the Sun of May (Sol de Mayo)

[Detail of Uruguayan Flag Sun]  image by Zoltan Horvath, 10 December 2024

The sun has sixteen rays, straight and wavy alternating.
Dov Gutterman, 13 May 2000

Each wavy ray is "divided" by a center wavy line. (in the same way each straight ray is divided by a center straight line). There is a picture of the Capitán Miranda, the school ship of the Uruguayan Navy with a Uruguayan National Flag with the "divided" wavy rays of the sun.
Francisco Gregoric, 5 July, 2004

Colour specifications

The specific color values of the flag are not officially defined by law. I haven’t found any legislation.

Other sources for colors:
The Album des Pavillons 1990 [pay98] (Corr. No. 30.) gives approximate colors in Pantone and CMYK systems:
Blue: Pantone 295c, CMYK 100-60-0-30
Yellow: Pantone 116c, CMYK 0-10-95-0
Red: Pantone 193c, CMYK 0-90-70-10

The Flag Manual - Beijing 2008 gives Pantone colors: PMS 125 (dark yellow), PMS 109 (yellow), and PMS 300 (blue).

The Album des Pavillons 2000 [pay00] gives approximate colors in Pantone and CMYK systems:
Blue: Pantone 295c, CMYK 100-60-0-30
Yellow: Pantone 116c, CMYK 0-10-95-0
Red: Pantone 193c, CMYK 0-90-70-10

The Flags and Anthems Manual London 2012 [loc12] gives Pantone colors: PMS 116 (yellow), and PMS Reflex Blue.

The Album des Pavillons 2023 specifies the colors of the flags in three color systems:
Blue: Pantone 295c, CMYK 100-86-36-24, RGB 0-45-98
Red: Pantone 193c, CMYK 10-100-64-6, RGB 195-12-62
Brown: Pantone 484c, CMYK 25-91-91-22, RGB 159-45-32
Yellow: Pantone 116c, CMYK 0-19-93-0, RGB 255-206-0

Vexilla Mundi gives colors in Pantone system: PMS White, PMS Reflex Blue C, PMS 116C (yellow), and PMS Black.

Wikipedia illustrates the flag, and construction details, and gives color values as follows:
Yellow: RGB 252-209-22, Hex #FCD116, CMYK 0-17-91-1
Brown: RGB 123-63-0, Hex #7B3F00, CMYK 0-49-100-52
Blue: RGB 0-56-168, Hex #0038A8, CMYK 100-67-0-34
White: RGB 255-255-255, Hex #FFFFFF, CMYK 0-0-0-0

Flag Color Codes gives the following color values:
Blue: Hex #001489, RGB 0-20-137, CMYK 100-87-0-20, Pantone Reflex Blue, RAL 5002
White: Hex #FFFFFF, RGB 255-255-255, CMYK 0-0-0-0, Pantone N/A, RAL N/A
Yellow: Hex #FFCD00, RGB 255-205-0, CMYK 0-10-98-0, Pantone 116, RAL 2007
Brown: Hex #7B3F00, RGB 123-63-0, CMYK 0-63-100-57, Pantone 731, RAL 8008

Zoltan Horvath, 10 December 2024

National coat of arms

[Arms] image located by Zoltan Horvath, 10 December 2024

The arms consist of a quartered oval with blue in the first and fourth quarters and white in the second and third. There are scales for justice. The horse and ox represent liberty and plenty. There is a representation of a city on a hill. That city is Montevideo, and it symbolizes strength. The sun is the "Sun of May" first used in Argentina and is derived from its historical ties with what was then the United Provinces of the River Plata. (Sources: [smi80], [tal82] and [cra90])
Calvin Paige Herring, 13 June 1998

My little flag book (French translation of [ing79]) refers to the suns as "Sun of May" for Argentina and "Star of May" for Uruguay. This obviously refers to the same astrological-legendary object, but is there such a difference in Spanish official descriptions?
Tham-Tâm Lê, 16 December 1998

The Coat of Arms appears in the Presidential naval rank ensign.
Francisco Gregoric, 7 August 2004

Current ceremonial usage of historical flags

These three flags are the official National Flags of Uruguay:

which almost always are placed together at the official Uruguayan places.
Blas Delgado Ortiz, 13 December 2001

In a recent visit of the Spanish Kings to Uruguay, the Artigas flag, the national flag and the 33 Orientales flag shown togheter (as usual) in official acts and military parades.
Jaume Ollé, 10 June 1998