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BOLIVIAN FLAGS AND COATS OF ARMSGovernment • Economy • Population • Holidays • Wildlife • Bolivia for Kids • Site Map 
Bolivia's national (and departmental) flags didn't always look like they do today. On the 17th of August, 1825, just eleven days after Bolivia declared its independence from Spain, the first national flag and crest were created by law. Its stripes were green-red-green, with the red stripe being slightly wider than the other two. Five stars were sewn onto the wider red stripe, representing the five provinces the country had at the time: La Paz, Potosí, Cochabamba, Chuquisaca, and Santa Cruz. It is said Simón Bolivar himself waved it atop the Cerro Rico in Potosí. August 17th is "Día de la Bandera" (Flag Day) in Bolivia. This version was modified on the 26th of July, 1826 when Congress changed the color of the upper green stripe to yellow (making it yellow-red-green). The 5 stars on the red stripe were replaced with the national coat of arms. Red represents blood lost during the battles for independence, yellow represents the country’s great mineral richness, and green represents its territory and lush vegetation. On November 6, 1851 President Manuel Belzu simply reorganized the colors to reflect the order of the colors found in the kantuta, Bolivia's national flower: red-yellow-green. This is how it looks today:
This is Bolivia’s national coat of arms – enlarged for detail:
Because the whipala was invented in 1973 as a symbol of the Andean peoples of Western Bolivia, most people in Eastern Bolivia (who are of completely different ethnic origin) do not consider it a symbol that represents their beliefs, history, traditions or political views. This new decree caused great tension. Eastern Bolivian public authorities and private citizens have declared their refusal to fly the whipala, especially in their homes, and consider this an attempt to impose another culture upon them. You can read more about the whipala at Wikipedia by clicking on the link above. Click to read about how we traditionally celebrate Bolivian Independence Day.
Each of Bolivia's nine departments (which are like states) has its own flag as well. Below I've listed them, along with the name of the capital city of each department.
Department of La Paz. Capital city is Nuestra Señora de La Paz.
Department of Oruro. Capital city is Oruro.
Department of Pando. Capital city is Cobija.
Department of Potosí. Capital city is Potosí.
Department of Chuquisaca. Capital city is Sucre.
Department of Cochabamba. Capital city is Cochabamba.
Department of Tarija. Capital city is Tarija.
Department of Beni. Capital city is Trinidad.
Department of Santa Cruz. Capital city is Santa Cruz de la Sierra.
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