{"id":60609,"date":"2025-08-27T19:43:28","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T17:43:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/?p=60609"},"modified":"2025-08-29T19:49:41","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T17:49:41","slug":"the-ten-oldest-national-flags-in-the-americas-that-are-still-in-use-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2025\/08\/27\/the-ten-oldest-national-flags-in-the-americas-that-are-still-in-use-today\/","title":{"rendered":"The ten oldest national flags in the Americas that are still in use today"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2023, I reviewed the oldest national flags in the world<\/a> that are still in use here. There were no American flags on the list.<\/p>\n

The British origin of the characteristic national flag of the United States of America<\/a><\/rel>
\nThe ten oldest national flags in the world that are still in use today<\/a><\/rel><\/p>\n

The reason for this absence is easy to understand: in Europe there are very old nations, while the current countries of the American continent began to form at the end of the 18th century<\/strong> (in the case of the United States, which was the first country on the continent to become independent) and especially in the 19th century<\/strong>, which was when the independence of the vast majority of the American countries took place.<\/p>\n

As in the case of Europe, some American countries have not always used the same flag<\/strong>, so this list includes only those flags that have been maintained to the present day, in some cases with slight variations.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n
The current US flag, with 50 stars, has been in use since 1960 (Photo: Danny Burke<\/a>).<\/div>\n

1. United States of America (1777)<\/big><\/p>\n

As we saw here recently<\/a>, the current United States flag has its origins in the \"Betsy Ross\" flag, adopted in 1777<\/strong>. That flag had 13 stars in the blue canton. The US flag has gradually incorporated more stars as new states joined the Union, until reaching the current 50 stars in 1960 with the incorporation of Hawaii.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n
Flag of the Republic of Haiti (Photo: Caribb<\/a>).<\/div>\n

2. Haiti (1806)<\/big><\/p>\n

The Republic of Haiti began using its current flag upon its independence from France in 1806.<\/strong> It is a split flag, with a blue upper half and a red lower half, and a white rectangle with the national coat of arms, which has undergone slight changes until its current version. Interestingly, the flag of Haiti prompted the current design of the flag of Liechtenstein<\/strong>, which incorporated the prince's crown in 1937 to distinguish itself from the Haitian flag (both countries flew nearly identical flags to the 1936 Berlin Olympics). Although it has been in use since 1806, Haiti did not legally regulate its flag until July 30, 1982.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n
Current flag of Venezuela (Photo: Aboodi Vesakaran<\/a>).<\/div>\n

3. Venezuela (1811)<\/big><\/p>\n

The first tricolor flag of Venezuela, with its current stripes, was first flown on August 3, 1806<\/strong>, in the port of La Vela, Coro, and was adopted in 1811 by the United Provinces of Venezuela, although a design similar to the current flag of Colombia was later used. White stars first appeared on the tricolor in 1863. In 1930, the country adopted the first design with seven stars arranged in an arc. The current eight-star version was adopted by the Hugo Ch\u00e1vez regime on March 9, 2006.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n
Flag of the Argentine Republic (Photo: Nicol\u00e1s Flor<\/a>).<\/div>\n

4. Argentina (1812)<\/big><\/p>\n

The flag of the Republic of Argentina was first raised on February 27, 1812<\/strong>, in the city of Rosario. Its current design was adopted on July 26, 1816, following the country's independence. It is one of two American flags that incorporate the so-called \"Sun of May,\" along with the flag of Uruguay.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n
Flag of the Republic of Chile (Photo: Hemerson Coelho<\/a>).<\/div>\n

5. Chile (1817)<\/big><\/p>\n

The flag of the Republic of Chile was adopted on October 18, 1817<\/strong>, by a decree of which no copies exist. It was first presented to the public on February 12, 1818, when Chile proclaimed its independence.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n
Flag of the Republic of Peru (Photo: bobistraveling<\/a>).<\/div>\n

6. Pere (1821)<\/big><\/p>\n

The flag of the Republic of Peru was first raised on July 28, 1821<\/strong>, in the Plaza Mayor of Lima, on the occasion of General Jos\u00e9 de San Mart\u00edn's declaration of independence from Spain. The flag was officially recognized on February 25, 1825, and was most recently modified in 1950.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n
Flag of Mexico (Photo: Alexander Schimmeck<\/a>).<\/div>\n

7. Mexico (1821)<\/big><\/p>\n

The Mexican flag was adopted on November 2, 1821<\/strong>, eleven years after the country began its process of separating from Spain. Initially, the colors had these meanings: green for independence, white for the Catholic religion, and red for the union between descendants of Europeans and Native Americans. These meanings were later changed as part of the country's strong secularist movement.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n
Flag of the Eastern Republic of Uruguay (Photo: Guilherme Hellwinkel<\/a>).<\/div>\n

8. Uruguay (1829)<\/big><\/p>\n

The flag of the Eastern Republic of Uruguay was officially adopted on December 18, 1829<\/strong>, four years after the country's separation from the Empire of Brazil. The flag represents the \"Sun of May\" in its canton, an element that also appears on the flag of Argentina. The first flag of Uruguay was the so-called Flag of Artigas of 1815<\/a>, made up of three stripes (blue, white, and blue) and a red diagonal stripe. This flag was also declared official on February 18, 1952. It is generally used in military emblems.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n
Flag of the Republic of Paraguay (Photo: Marcos Serrou do Amaral<\/a>).<\/div>\n

9. Paraguay\u200b (1842)<\/big><\/p>\n

The flag of the Republic of Paraguay was adopted on November 25, 1842<\/strong>. The flag is based on a tricolor adopted on October 12, 1813, which had a wider white stripe than the other two. Interestingly, the flag bears different circular coats of arms on each side<\/strong>. On the reverse, it bears a shield with a lion, a Phrygian cap, and the motto \"Peace and Justice.\"<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n
Flag of the Dominican Republic (Photo: Smooth_O<\/a>).<\/div>\n

10. Dominican Republic(1844)<\/big><\/p>\n

The flag of the Dominican Republic was first raised on February 27, 1844<\/strong>, at the Bastion of the Count of Santo Domingo, to commemorate the country's separation from Spain. However, the flag did not receive legal recognition until March 27, 1895.<\/p>\n

---<\/p>\n

Main photo: OEA.<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 2023, I reviewed the oldest national flags in the world that are still in use here. There were no American flags on the list.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[24813],"tags":[159,738,872,1449,1890,2081,2296,6363,10124,10431,12974,14758,23752],"class_list":["post-60609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vexillology","tag-venezuela","tag-chile","tag-haiti","tag-paraguay","tag-peru","tag-argentina","tag-mexico","tag-uruguay","tag-america","tag-united-states","tag-vexillology","tag-betsy-ross","tag-dominican-republic"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-14 21:28:14","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60609\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}