Flag of Chile - Similar Flags

Similar Flags

The flag of the U.S. state of Texas is similar to the Chilean flag. The flag of Texas was designed and adopted on 25 January 1839; whereas Chile's flag was adopted 28 years earlier on 18 October 1817. It is worthy of note, however, that the Chilean flag was not standardized until 1912, when the diameter of the star was established. The Chilean flag has had varying interpretations, due to its single star and bar, supporting the idea that the star represents the unitary state instead of a federation. However, it can be argued that the similarity of shapes and colors between the Texas and Chile flags is just a coincidence, since these patterns were common at the time and not necessarily unique to the United States.

In 1822 during the Peruvian War of Independence, troops from both the Liberating Expedition of Peru (Expedición Libertadora del Perú) and the United Liberating Army of Peru (Ejército Unido Libertador del Perú) used a standard that was identical to the modern flag of Chile, except their flag had three stars in the canton, representing the three nations united by the cause of independence: the Argentine provinces, Chile and Peru.

On the other hand, the Chilean flag would have served as inspiration for the supporters of Cuban independence at the start the Ten Years' War in the so-called War Cry of Yara (Spanish: Grito de Yara) in 1868. The leader of this revolution, Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, would have been inspired to create the first Cuban flag named La Demajagua in honor of the place where the revolt began. Two main differences are that the red and blue colors are inverted and that the red canton extends to the middle of the fly instead of one-third as on the Chilean flag.

Céspedes would have been inspired by the Chilean flag as a way of honoring the efforts of Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna on behalf of Chile to achieve independence of Cuba after the Spanish defeat in the Chincha Islands War. According to Cespedes's son, his father "imagined a new flag that bore the same colors as that of the Carreras and O'Higgins and that would differentiate itself from the disposition of those colors." However, the flag would not have much success, and an earlier design would become the definitive Cuban flag.

The first flag of the Confederate States of America, known as the Stars and Bars, is somewhat similar to the flag of Chile.

The flag of Liberia, founded in 1847, also includes a single star on the canton, but it has multiple horizontal stripes similar to the United States Flag.

Also, the Flag of Malacca, a state in Malaysia, is similar, having the same colors (except the yellow star and moon) and a similar canton design, although the proportions and color order are different.

The state of Amazonas in Brazil also adopted a similar flag 1982. Its flag also has an elongated blue canton with multiple stars.