🇧🇷 The colours of Brazil
7 meanings recorded, 10 colours tied to the country and 3 colour cities.
Brazil’s flag uses green, yellow, blue, and white. Green and yellow recall the country’s imperial dynasties, while blue and white represent the sky over Rio de Janeiro on the day the republic was declared. The stars stand for each state and the Federal District, and the motto means 'Order and Progress.'
Where no official value is given, the swatch shows the colour family, not the exact shade.
- Each star on the flag stands for a Brazilian state or the Federal District.
- The flag’s stars show the sky over Rio de Janeiro on 15 November 1889.
- Green and yellow were first used for Brazil’s imperial dynasties.
- The motto 'Ordem e Progresso' is inspired by Auguste Comte’s ideas.
- The flag’s design and proportions are set by detailed legal rules.
The colours of the flag of Brazil
Brazil’s flag features a green background with a yellow diamond in the centre. Inside the diamond is a blue circle showing 27 white stars, each one linked to a state or the Federal District. The stars are arranged to match the sky as seen over Rio de Janeiro on the day the republic was declared. A white band runs across the blue circle, carrying the phrase 'Ordem e Progresso,' which comes from a French philosopher’s motto about order and progress. The green and yellow colours were kept from the imperial flag, originally tied to royal families.
How the colours were chosen of Brazil
Before independence, Brazil used Portuguese flags, with green and white for the royal family and a white flag with a golden armillary sphere for merchant ships. When Brazil became a kingdom, its arms featured a gold armillary sphere on blue. After independence, the imperial flag used green and yellow for the dynasties of Pedro I and Maria Leopoldina. The republic kept these colours but replaced the imperial arms with a blue globe and motto. Over time, more stars were added as new states were created, with the last change in 1992.
Official shades and rules of Brazil
The flag’s proportions and layout are set by law. It is built on a grid of modules: the flag is 20 units long and 14 units high. The yellow diamond, blue circle, and white band all have precise measurements. The stars come in five sizes, matching their real brightness. The motto is written in green, with specific letter sizes and placement. Updates to the stars are required whenever a new state is formed.
The facts in this overview come from the Wikipedia article "Flag of Brazil", written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence. Rang rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.
What colours mean in Brazil
Customs vary by region, faith and family; these are the meanings most often recorded.
Red is the colour of the Workers' Party, founded in 1980, whose symbol is a red star. Its rallies are a sea of red shirts and flags.
Politics and protestSource: Workers' Party (Brazil)The national football team plays in a yellow shirt with green trim, the canarinho. It was chosen in a newspaper contest after the 1950 World Cup final was lost in white.
Festival and celebrationPrideJoySource: Brazil national football teamThe yellow diamond of the flag is commonly said to stand for gold. It came from the House of Habsburg, the family of the first empress.
Politics and protestSource: Flag of BrazilThe green field of the flag is commonly said to stand for the forests. It was first the colour of the House of Braganza, the family of the first emperor.
Politics and protestNature and renewalPrideSource: Flag of BrazilLight blue and white are the colours of Iemanja, the sea goddess of Candomble and Umbanda. On 2 February in Salvador her followers send flowers and gifts out to sea.
Sacred and holyCalmSource: YemọjaOn New Year's Eve crowds on the beaches dress in white for peace in the year ahead. The custom comes from the Afro-Brazilian religions, whose followers wear white.
Luck and prosperityFestival and celebrationSacred and holyHopeSource: New Year's EveBlack is the usual colour of mourning. Widows in older generations wore it for a year, and the custom is called luto.
Mourning and deathGriefSource: MourningColour and feeling in Brazil
In Brazilian Portuguese 'tudo azul', all blue, means that everything is going well. Blue here is the clear sky, not sorrow.
In Brazilian Portuguese a badly scared person is 'branco de susto', white with fright.
The yellow shirt of the national football team, adopted in the 1950s, is known as the canarinho and stands for attacking flair.
In Brazilian Portuguese someone startled is 'branco de susto', white with fright.
On New Year's Eve, crowds on Brazilian beaches dress in white, a custom rooted in Afro-Brazilian religion, to ask for peace in the coming year.
Colour cities of Brazil
🇧🇷 Salvador's pastel heartPelourinhoThe old upper town of Salvador da Bahia: steep cobbled squares lined with pastel colonial houses and churches.
🇧🇷 Painted hill town of carnivalOlindaA colonial town on hills above the sea near Recife, with bright house fronts, white churches and palm trees.
🇧🇷 White walls, coloured framesParatyA colonial port between forest and sea, where every house is white and every door and window frame is a bright colour.Colours tied to Brazil
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Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Pelourinho Br: Matti Blume, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Olinda Br: Valdiney Pimenta, CC BY 2.0, source
- Paraty Br: Lampiao3, Public domain, source