🇨🇺 The colours of Cuba

Cuba’s flag features three dark blue stripes, two white stripes, and a red triangle with a white star. The blue stands for the island’s three original regions, white for the purity of the independence cause, and red for strength and the influence of Masonic ideals.

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

• The flag’s blue is officially called azul turquí, a dark blue.
• Three blue stripes represent Cuba’s original three regions.
• The red triangle stands for strength and Masonic equality.
• The flag has remained unchanged since 1902.
• The white star is known as the Lone Star.

The colours of the flag of Cuba

The Cuban flag is made up of five horizontal stripes, alternating blue and white, with a red triangle at the hoist containing a white five-pointed star. The three blue stripes represent the island’s historical divisions, while the two white stripes stand for the purity of the independence movement. The red triangle symbolises strength, constancy, and the influence of Masonic ideas about equality. The white star inside the triangle is known as the Lone Star, a symbol of independence. These meanings are part of the flag’s official symbolism.

How the colours were chosen of Cuba

The flag was designed in 1849 by Miguel Teurbe Tolón and Narciso López, inspired by López’s vision for an independent Cuba. It was first raised in 1850 during an attempted uprising against Spanish rule. In 1869, the flag was chosen over another independence banner, the Demajagua, as the national flag. It became the official flag in 1902 when Cuba gained independence from the United States. The flag’s design and colours have remained unchanged, even after the 1959 Cuban Revolution.

Official shades and rules of Cuba

Since 1906, the blue of the flag is officially specified as azul turquí, a dark, saturated shade similar to indigo or Prussian blue. The flag’s proportions are set at a 2:1 length-to-width ratio, with all stripes of equal width. The white star’s diameter is one third the length of the hoist, and it is centred within the red triangle.