🇨🇱 The colours of Chile

Chile’s flag features blue, white, and red. Blue stands for the sky and Pacific Ocean, white for the snow on the Andes, and red for the blood shed for independence. The white star symbolises Venus, seen by the Mapuche as a guiding light and by others as a sign of statehood.

Where no official value is given, the swatch shows the colour family, not the exact shade.

• The flag’s star symbolises Venus for the Mapuche people.
• Blue, white, and red are linked to sky, Andes snow, and blood for independence.
• The current flag was adopted in 1817 after earlier designs with different colours.
• The flag’s colours are named in law but have no official hex codes.
• Displaying the flag is required by law on key national holidays.

The colours of the flag of Chile

Chile’s flag is made up of two horizontal bands, white above red, with a blue square in the top left corner. In the centre of the blue square sits a white five-pointed star. Blue is said to represent the sky and the Pacific Ocean, white stands for the snow on the Andes mountains, and red recalls the blood lost in the struggle for independence. The single star is linked to Venus, which the Mapuche people see as a guiding force, though others see it as a symbol of Chile’s independent state. These meanings are widely accepted and often repeated, though not all are set out in law.

How the colours were chosen of Chile

Before independence, Chile used Spanish symbols, including the Cross of Burgundy and the red-and-yellow naval flag. The first local flag, adopted in 1812, had blue, white, and yellow stripes, with meanings tied to government or nature. In 1817, a new flag with blue, white, and red stripes replaced yellow with red, referencing Mapuche colours and the blood shed in conflict. The current flag, adopted later that year, introduced the blue canton and white star, drawing on both Mapuche symbolism and the need to avoid confusion with other nations’ flags.

Official shades and rules of Chile

The flag’s proportions and layout are set by law: a 3:2 ratio, with two equal horizontal bands and a blue square in the top left. The star is centred in the blue square and sized to fit a circle half the width of the square. The colours are named in law as 'turqui blue', 'white', and 'red', but no official colour codes are given. The flag must be displayed on certain national holidays, and disrespecting it is a punishable offence.