National Flag Day in Chile Date in the current year: July 9, 2024

The current flag of Chile is the third design of the national flag. The first one was the flag of the Patria Vieja (“Old Republic”), used by the government of José Miguel Carrera from 1812 to 1814. It consisted of three horizontal stripes of blue, white, and yellow. The second flag, known as the flag of the transition, was adopted during the period of the Patria Nueva (“New Fatherland”). It consisted of three horizontal stripes of blue, white, and red.

The second flag was short-lived. Adopted in May 1817, it was replaced by the third design in October of the same year. The third and current flag of Chile, known in Spanish as La Estrella Solitaria (The Lone Star), consists of two horizontal stripes of equal height, white and red. There is also a blue square with a white five-pointed star in the canton, representing Venus, significant to the indigenous Mapuche people.

The white stripe on the Chilean flag symbolizes the snow-covered Andes, the color red symbolizes the blood spilled during the struggle for Chile’s independence, and blue stands for the Pacific Ocean and the sky. According to the 16th-century epic poem La Araucana about the Spanish conquest of Chile, the flag flown by the Mapuche people who fought the Spaniards in the Arauco War incorporated the same colors, so it is possible that the current flag of Chile was at least partially inspired by that indigenous flag.

The Chilean flag was flown for the first time on February 12, 1818, during the formal independence ceremony in Santiago. The original design was a little different from the present-day one. For example, the star was slightly inclined toward the pole instead of standing upright, and there was the national coat of arms printed in the center, which was soon removed from the flag because it made the design too complicated. The proportions of the flag were also different. The current proportions of the national flag of Chile were officially defined in a Ministry of Interior decree published in 1967.

Rather than commemorating the adoption of the national flag, Chilean Flag Day marks the anniversary of the Battle of La Concepción that was fought on July 9 and 10, 1882, during the War of the Pacific. A 1,300-strong Peruvian force attacked a Chilean garrison of 77 young men and two barmaids (one of them heavily pregnant), who chose to fight rather than lower the national flag. Upon arriving on July 10, Chilean reinforcements found the remains of 77 dead soldiers and two women, and a torn flag.

Since 1939, the different branches of the Chilean Armed Forces have held coordinated ceremonies to recite the Pledge to the Flag (Juramento de la Bandera) on July 9 to honor the lives of those who died in the Battle of La Concepción defending their flag and their country’s honor. In 1974, the date was officially designated as National Flag Day.