image byIvan Sache, 3 June 2019
2:3
Flag adopted 20 December 1903
coat of arms adopted 4 June 1904 and legislated officially 15December 1949.
Official Name:Republic of Panama (Republicade Panama)
Capital:Panama
Location:Central America
Government Type:Constitutional Democracy
Flag adopted:28March 1941 (First hoisted 20 December 1903)
Coat of Arms adopted:4 June 1904
ISO Code:PA
See also:
Other sites:
Fromwww.pa/patria/simbolos.html,located by Jarig Bakker:
Flag of Panama
The Panamanian flag was design by Mr. Amador Guerrero and made by[his wife] Ms. Maria Ossa de Amador.
The Panamanian flag is a rectangle divided into four quarters:the top hoist one, white with a five-pointed blue star; the topfly one, red; the bottom hoist one, blue; and the bottom fly one,white with a five-pointed red star
The combination of its three colours has this meaning: whitestands for the long-expected peace through the pacific union ofthe historical parties, the Liberal one represented by red andthe Conservative one by blue.
Baptism of the Flag
On December 20th 1903 the emblem was baptised, acting asGodparents [sic] Dr. Gerardo Ortega with Ms. Lastenia de Lewisand Mr. José Agustín Arango with Ms. Manuela M. de Arosemena.Rev. Fray Bernardino de la Concepción García gave his blessing.
Legal adoption of the Flag (seePanama - flag law)
The Constituent Assembly provisionally approved the flag by Law64 of 1904. It was definitively approved through Law 4 of 1925written by the National Assembly and ratified by Law of March28th 1941.
Translated bySantiago Dotor, 13 December 1999
From Smith [smi75]:
"The orderly division of the field suggested alternation ofthe parties at the helm of the government. blue and red were alsoassociated with the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, which flankPanama."
From DK Pocket Book [udk97]:"Red was the colour of the Conservatives and blue that ofthe Liberals." Error?
Ivan Sache, 26 December 1999
Crampton - The World of Flags (1990: '...it is said that itscolors stand for the Colorados (the "Reds", or radicalparty) and for the Conservatives, the traditional parties of thetime, with white for peace. It was designed by the firstPresident, Manuel Amador Guerrero[note], and first hoisted on 20December 1903...'
The Encyclopedia (1999): 'The blue and red are the colors of themain political parties (Conservatives and Liberals respectively)and the white denotes peace between them. The blue alsosymbolizes the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean, and the redstands for the blood of those who lost their lives for theircountry. The blue star represents the civic virtues of purity andhonesty, and the red star is a symbol of authority and law.'
Jarig Bakker, 26 December 1999
Smith is totally incorrect, DK Pocket Book is incomplete.Crampton - The World of Flags (1990) got the red Liberal partywrong and the designer was Manuel Amador Jr., not the PresidentManuel Amador Guerrero. The Encyclopedia (1999) is accurateand complete.
Alvaro Aguilar, 31 August 2001
The websitewww.pa/patria/simbolos.html(located by Jarig Bakker) has the text of the 1949 decree on useof the flag. Article 2 has the following to say aboutproportions: "Article 2: The Flag of the Republic has thefollowing dimensions: three meters in length by two inwidth for those flown on public buildings, warships and merchantships; one meter 80 centimeters in length by one meter 44centimeters in width for the colors [pabellones] of units ofinfantry and artillery; of one meter square [for t]he standardsof cavalry[.] [F]lags for official automobiles will measure47 centimeters in length by 32 centimeters in width."
My brackets are my emendation of a text that, on the website,actually says "...infantería y artillería; de un metrocuadrado. Los estandartes de caballería y las Banderas de losautomóviles de uso oficial medirán ...." This makessense to me only if the period after "quadrado" ischanged to a comma and a new sentence is begun after"caballería." Otherwise the phrase "de unmetro quadrado" doesn't apply to any flag, and the poorcavalrymen are left carrying an absurdly small standard.
The same site also has rules for vertical hoisting/rotate andreverse so the blue star is in the flag's upper right and the redone in the flag's lower left.
Joe McMillan, 20 September 2002
This gives ratios 2:3, 4:5, 1:1 and 32:47. The Album mentionspossibility 1:2. Is there any legal background for that?
Sadly enough, the regulations says nothing on the size of thestars. Ivan estimates them to 30% of hoist, based on Flaggenbuchand Album.
Željko Heimer, 23 September 2002
The Mariner's Handbook, edit 0999, British HO Taunton,presents it as 1:2
Armand du Payrat, 23 September 2002
Note that the 4:5, 1:1, and 32:47 ratios are for veryspecialized uses.
Joe McMillan, 23 September 2002
One may then say that the Panamanian flag is simply 2:3, as wedo for the others too. However, the main point I wanted to askwas regarding the 1:2 ratio, which seems is not legallysanctioned, but apparently used. I wonder if the use of that longflag might be happening only as an ensign - Panamanian ensign isamong the most popular flags of convenience, and therefore therecertainly are many ships carrying ensigns that not only areproduced abroad from Panama, but probably haven't seen Panamanian coasts ever.
Željko Heimer, 24 September 2002
It was told that the Panamanian flag stands for hoped-forpeace (white) between the Conservatives (blue) and Liberals(red).
A paragraph inWikipedia'sarticle on the history of the country may provide a clue - and ifso it was the two factions in the country at the time ofindependence in 1821:
"Panama joined the independence bandwagon like most of theother Central American countries, in 1821. While Panama was ofgreat historical importance to the Spanish Empire, thedifferences in social and economic status between the moreliberal area of Azuero, and the much more royalist andconservative area of Veraguas displayed contrasting perspectives.It is, in fact, known that when the Grito de la Villa de LosSantos ["a unilateral decision by the residents of Azuero(without backing from Panama City) to declare their separationfrom the Spanish Empire."] occurred, Veraguas firmly opposedthe motion for independence."
James Dignan, 22 April 2009
There is a "Protocol Manual for the Use of NationalSymbols" (my translation of the Spanish title) that was putout in 2006 by Comisión Nacional de Desfiles Patrios (NationalCommission of Patriotic Parades), a division of the Ministry ofEducation. This document stipulates that official proportions are2:3 and gives star measurements as 0.5m on a 2m by 3m flag (p.17in Manual). The only info I could not glean from the document isif the stars are 0.5 m from top point to bottom points or if it'sinscribed within a 0.5 m circle (my illustrations use the circle).
Other formats are as follows (all outlined on p.17 in Manual):Infantry and Artillery version of the flag,dimensions 180:144.Cavalry version,dimensions 1:1.Car flag version, dimensions32:47
Brian Ellis, 20 July 2009
It is known that the first flag was hurriedly thrown togetherin secret, and many histories suggest that a mistake was madewith its construction in that the red (rather than the blue)panel should have appeared in the upper hoist.
Christopher Southworth, 6 August 2009
Manuel E. Amador T. was the designer of it, not Manuel Amador Guerrero. Thissecond person was his father, and first President of the Republic.
Maria De la Ossa de Amador, his adoptive mother, bought the fabric and with hersister-in-law Angelia B. de De la Ossa, made the first pair of flags, each one2.25 m long. The flag was adopted on November 3 1903 at night, and was"Christianized, baptized" on December 20 of the same year.
Vladimir Berrío-Lemm, 23 November 2012
The national symbols of Panamá are prescribed by the Single Text of Law No. 34 of 1949 "Adopting the flag, the anthem and the coat of arms as national symbols and regulating their use", which includes the amendments prescribed by Law No. 2 of 2012, and was published on 27 February 2012 in the Panamá official gazette, No. 26,981-A. SeePanama Flag Law for details.
Ivan Sache, 3 June 2019
This article contains very interesting images and sources, like theoriginal construction sheet anddescription of the Panama flag.
Esteban Rivera, 14 March 2016
Panama's Flag Day (Día de la Bandera) is on November 4th.
Source:www.pa.
Jim, 23 January 2006
On flag day in Panama they burn old flags that are damaged beyond useor don't reflect positively on the country. This is the officialmanner in which they are disposed.
Roger Imerman, 07 November 2015
official flag
image byBrian Ellis, 20 July 2009
reverse/flag in use
image byBrian Ellis, 20 July 2009
Photo atwww.epasa.comshow vertical hoisting of the flag. The flag is rotated 90degreed to the right while the stars are kept in their originalorientation, which means that it is a regular flag,only rotated.
Dov Gutterman, 10 October 2005
Maritza post of 18 July 2009, point us that the theflag is wrong based onSpanishwikipedia.
However, there doesn't seem to be an official source quoted, soin this instance. Wikipedia itself cannot be considered anentirely "trustful reference".
We on the other hand, show an officially displayed flag which canbe so considered, however, we appear to have interpreted itincorrectly
It appears to me that we have the illustration wrong, both from apoint of view of the information on Wiki and the source quoted byourselves. The vertically hoisted flag is indeedsimply rotated in the conventional manner, but I must remind youthat this would place the canton at the dexter not at thesinister as we show it. The photo' is plainly of a flag'sreverse.
When hanging a flag vertically theconventionalrules are simple - when hung flat against some object etc., thecanton must always be towards the dexter, yet when hanging from ahorizontal pole at right angles to any building one surely placesthe upper edge of that flag away from that building and up to thetruck. The Panamanian authorities are treated the lamp postto which the horizontal poles are attached as if it were abuilding, and this being so, the photo' is plainly of a flag'sreverse
However, that regulations do vary (albeit sometimes onlyslightly) from country to country and that they (if they exist atall) are often totally ignored.
Christopher Southworth, 19 July 2009
This article of theSpanishWikipedia about the flag of Panama does address the questionin its current version, last edited in 2009.05.14. But it juststates that "En los balcones "(…)("Vertical:") se coloca con el cantón de la estrellaazul al lado izquierdo superior del observador", which meansthat on balconies (and, we may assume, in all other flaghanging,not hoisting, situations), the blue star goes to theviewer’s upper left - but this statement is not backed up bya specific refference to a legal document, albeit a number ofthem is listed under “Referencias”.
The image (and its copies and pervious versions) lacks likewise asource to back up the conveyed information. In short, what’son the article of the Spanish Wikipedia about the flag of Panamais probably true but not backed up enough.
The report of 10 October 2005, reports and briefly describes andcomments a photo of actual flag in use with the blue star on theupper fly on row of flags displayed from two parallel beamsattached at right angles to a vertical pole, holding the flag byits design hoist and fly.
Is this a wrong practice, according to the relevant law? Maybe,but it is a report of an actual use, seemingly authorized by amunicipal body. Even if not legal, it is report worthy, and is notclaiming more than a plain sight report.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 20 July 2009
There is a "Protocol Manual for the Use of NationalSymbols" (my translation of the Spanish title) that was putout in 2006 by Comisión Nacional de Desfiles Patrios (NationalCommission of Patriotic Parades), a division of the Ministry ofEducation. This document stipulates on vertically hung flags, theblue field should be to the observers right, not left.
Brian Ellis, 20 July 2009
The protocol manual for theLondon 2012 Olympics(Flags and Anthems ManualLondon 2012 [loc12]) provides recommendationsfor national flag designs. EachNOCwas sent an image of the flag, including thePMS shades, for their approval by LOCOG. Once this was obtained, LOCOG produceda 60 x 90 cm version of the flag for further approval. So, while these specs maynot be the official, government, version of each flag, they are certainly whattheNOCbelieved the flag to be.
For Panama: PMS 300 blue, 186 red. The vertical flag is the horizontal versionreversed and turned 90 degrees anti-clockwise - blue star top left, blue cantontop right.
Ian Sumner, 10 October 2012
The Manual on Procedure, Design and Use of the Symbols of the Nation is prescribed by Executive Decree No. 337, promulgated in 2017 defines the national flag with illustrations and color specification (https://www.gacetaoficial.gob.pa/pdfTemp/28432_A/65219.pdf):
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image byBrian Ellis, 20 July 2009
Based on Protocol Manual for the Use of National Symbols"(my translation of the Spanish title) that was put out in 2006 byComisión Nacional de Desfiles Patrios (National Commission ofPatriotic Parades), a division of the Ministry of Education.
Infantry and Artillery version of the flag, dimensions 180:144.
Brian Ellis, 20 July 2009
image byBrian Ellis, 20 July 2009
Based on Protocol Manual for the Use of National Symbols"(my translation of the Spanish title) that was put out in 2006 byComisión Nacional de Desfiles Patrios (National Commission ofPatriotic Parades), a division of the Ministry of Education.
Cavalry version version of the flag, dimensions 1:1.
Brian Ellis, 20 July 2009
image byBrian Ellis, 20 July 2009
Based on Protocol Manual for the Use of National Symbols"(my translation of the Spanish title) that was put out in 2006 byComisión Nacional de Desfiles Patrios (National Commission ofPatriotic Parades), a division of the Ministry of Education.
Car flag version version version of the flag, dimensions 32:47.
Brian Ellis, 20 July 2009
image byZoltán Horváth, 26 August 2024
The French Navy Books illustrate the Panamanian flag with 2:3 ratio, but noted that is used in 1:2 ratio, too. Indeed, there are many examples for it. The Flag Law allows it for navaluse, for example.
Zoltán Horváth, 26 August 2024
image byFred Drews andFrancisco Gregoric, 18July 2007
image fromWikimedia Commons
Wikipedia article shows a Presidential standard which is the national flag with the coat of arms of Panama charged on the center.I haven’t found any picture in vicinity of the president using this flag. The current president doesn’t use it, at least. Probably, this flag comes from presidential sash. If anybody has more information, please share it with us.
Zoltán Horváth, 26 August 2024
Panama - Flag of convenience on several ships. The one whichamazed me the most was the ferry from Flensburg (Germany) toKollund (Denmark), that I was on myself. This ferry, that nevergets out of the fjord, is flying the flag of a land it couldn'teven reach. (Not only because it probably couldn't carry its ownfuel for an Atlantic journey, but it couldn't sail the high seas;it was really just an inland sightseeing ship misused aspassenger (and bicycle) ferry. Since this ferry sailed under thePanamanian flag, does that mean I've been to Panama? To whatextent were Panamanian laws valid, while we were crossing fromGerman territorial waters directly into Danish?
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 28 August 2001
It is also that the Panamanian flag is also a convenience flagused in the shipping industry. However I was surprised to hear ofa Danish ferry flying the Panamanian flag as I have no idea ifthat is actually allowed by the governing laws. The term"convenience" derives from the fact that IF a ship isto do regular crossings of the Panama canal AND it is registeredunder Panamanian flag, then it is eligible for discount on thetoll paid to make the transit on the Panama Canal. Other thanthat there is no other benefit that I know. Do note that thishowever also has a dark side attached to it. There have beennumerous cases of foreign ships flying (by convenience) thePanamanian flag -and that are NOT Panamanian ships- which areseized by authorities due to trafficking of drugs. Unfortunatelythe news always tend to say "a ship with Panamanianflag...." omitting the fact that the ship (and most of thetimes not even its crew or owner) are related to Panama exceptfor the flying of the flag in order to make cheaper transits.
Didimo Grimaldo, 30 January 2005
