Flag of Costa Rica

How to read it

Law 10178, the law on the use of the national pabellón, flag and coat of arms, published in La Gaceta on 11 May 2022, defines both forms. Article 1 describes the flag (bandera) as five horizontal stripes: the first and fifth blue, the second and fourth white, and a red stripe in the centre twice as wide as the others. Article 2 sets the colours as Pantone Reflex Blue and Pantone 485C red and the size as 2 m long by 1.2 m high (6 ft 7 in by 3 ft 11 in), a ratio of 3 to 5, kept when the flag is made larger or smaller. The pabellón is the same flag, 2 m by 1.2 m, with the coat of arms in colour on the red stripe inside a white ellipse 30 cm by 20 cm (12 by 8 in), its centre 60 cm (2 ft) from the edge at the pole. The law repealed the earlier flag laws of 1906, 1934, 1964 and 1976.

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The flag and the pabellón

Costa Rican law separates the two. The plain flag may be flown with due respect on homes, businesses, buildings and vehicles during national celebrations, and a citizen who wishes may keep it raised all the time; no legend may be put on it. The pabellón, the flag with the arms, is in the law’s words the principal national symbol and the highest ceremonial representation of the state, and its use is restricted: it flies at the Presidential House, the Legislative Assembly, the Supreme Court, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal and Costa Rica’s embassies and consulates, and is barred from private houses and other buildings. Article 19 asks schools to teach the difference. On 12 November, the Day of the Pabellón, schools, public offices and any private person who wishes may raise it.

The coat of arms

Article 9 describes three volcanoes and a wide valley between two oceans, with a merchant ship on each, a rising sun at the left of the horizon, two myrtle branches joined by a broad white ribbon reading “República de Costa Rica” in gold, seven equal stars in an arc for the provinces of San José, Alajuela, Cartago, Heredia, Guanacaste, Puntarenas and Limón, and above them a blue ribbon with “América Central” in silver.

Where the design came from

The flag dates from 29 September 1848, under José María Castro Madriz. Costa Rica’s Imprenta Nacional tells the story that the design was inspired by the flag of France and proposed by Pacífica Fernández Oreamuno, Castro Madriz’s wife. The Centro de Patrimonio’s book on the national symbols says the pabellón was first raised on 12 November 1848 in the Plaza Mayor of San José, the date now kept as its day.