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Ecuador

Civil Flag

by Antonio Martins 22 April 1999

State Flag

by TF Mills - 1997-12-11

State Flag and Civil Flag
Municipal Buildings Flag
Air Force Fin Flash

State Flag and Civil Flag

I just returned from a trip to Ecuador, and I made a few flag observations while I was there. I should have looked at FOTW-ws before going, and I would have known to keep an eye out for provincial flag problems. There seems to be considerable confusion about the number of provinces and the design of their flags. As it was I saw very little evidence of provincial flags. I did see the Quito flag throughout Pichincha Province, but there was probably a special reason for that.
When I arrived in November there was little evidence of flags except over government buildings. But during the week of the Quito Fiesta the Ecuadoran and Quito flags appeared on just about every storefront, balcony, window and chimney pot. The fiesta celebrates the re-founding of Quito on 6 Dec. 1534 by Spanish General Benalcazar. Quito had pre-existed for some 4000 years, but Inca general Ruminahui had evactuated and razed the city a few days earlier.
FOTW-ws displays the Ecuadoran flag with no coat of arms. This flag differs from Colombia's only in its proportions (which means they cannot be differentiated unless they are side by side and correctly manufactured.) I assume this is the civil flag. Almost all the Ecuadoran flags on display were incorrectly proportioned and showed the national coat of arms (which I assume to be the state flag version). The relative size of the coa varied from about half the height to almost the full height of the field. I assume the people feel the need to include the coa to differentiate their flag from neighboring Colombia's, even if it is not strictly correct to do so.
TF Mills - 1997-12-11

The Ecuador coat of arms was adopted by the National Congress in 1900. Here is an explanation of its symbolism:
Four national furled flags act as supporters. Between them are palm and laurel branches symbolizing victory. A condor perched at the top serves as a crest and offers the country shelter and protection under its outstretched wings and stands ready to strike out against any enemy. At the base is a lictoral fasces representing dignity.
The coat of arms proper is an oval disc (said to be "heart-shaped") consisting principally of an allegorical landscape. In the background is the majestic Chimborazo mountain rising against a blue sky. This is the highest peak in the Andes and its snows give birth to the Guayas River. The imagery symbolizes the brotherhood of the Sierra and the Coast. In the foreground, the steamboat "Guayas" is seen crossing the wide river. This boat, which began service on October 9, 1841, was constructed by Vicente Rocafuerte and was the first of its kind in Ecuador and South America. The mast is actually a caduceus (a rod with two wings at the top and two snakes encircling it) and symbolizes "accord and trade". On a band across the sky are the zodiacal signs for Aries, Taurus, Gemini, and Cancer corresponding to March, April, May, and June -- months which are historically significant to Ecuadorians. Centered among these is the sun, an ancient Inca symbol.
TF Mills - 1997-12-11

The bird on the top of the arms is an Andean Condor. This native South American bird is also on the arms of Bolivia, Chile and Colombia.
Paige Herring - 5 March 1998

The colours of the Ecuadoran flag are said to represent:

Red = the blood shed by the soldiers and martyrs of the independence battles.
Blue = the color of the sea and sky.
Yellow = the abundance and fertility of the crops and land.

The flags of Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela are almost identical because at independence in 1822 they formed a confederation (Gran Colombia). They parted ways in 1830, but retained the same essential flag whose inspiration and design is attributed to freedom fighter General Francisco Miranda.
TF Mills - 1997-12-11

I received today a copy of "ceremonial maritimo de la Armada del Ecuador". according to this booklet, national flag is always with COA and has a ratio of 2:3 (this confirms official website http://www.mmrree.gov.ec/gobierno/bandera.htm) national flag is also used as Naval and Merchant Ensign there are also many distinguishing flag
Armand Noel du Payrat 11 Febuary 1999

The Ecuatorian flag is very similar to the Venezuelan and the Colombian Flag. This happens because these three nations (under the names of Guayaquil, Venezuela and Nueva Granada) formed, back in the 1820s, the Great Colombia Republic (GCR), and then adopted the MIrandinian-venezuelan tricolori. The ratio of this flag, however, differs from its sister flags: it's 1:2, whereas the Colombian and Venezuelan flags are 2:3. The civil flag wears only the tricolori, the state flag, as happens with Colombia and Venezuela, also sports the country's CoA. In 1860, Ecuador adopted the flag we know today.
The symbolism of the flag is analogous to those of CO and VE; being as follows:
Yellow, for the riches of the land and the warmth of the sun.
Blue, for the seas and sky which divide us form our motherland, Spain; and,
Red, for the blood shed by the patrotical soldiers and martyrs of the independence wars.
Guillermo Aveledo 8 October 1999

On September 26, 1860, Gabriel Garcia Moreno, Supreme Chief of Government, decreed the flag change to its present (and ancient) colours, adopting the ratio 1:2 which differentiates Ecuador flag to that of Colombia (which would adopt the same distribution of its tricolori the following year).
Guillermo Aveledo 9 October 1999

Municipal Buildings Flag

by Guillermo Aveledo 9 October 1999

I am not sure weather this flag is still used, but, according to one of the books on my collection (EASA: Banderas y escudos del Mundo), and I am pretty sure that, if used, it is an alternative flag, used together to the especific municipal flag.
This flag has the same Ecuadorian tricolori, only that, on the centre of the blue band, a circular allignment of twenty, white, five-pointed stars . These stars represent the provinces of Ecuador (Azuay, Bolívar, Cañar, Carchi, Cotopaxi, Chimborazo, El Oro, Esmeraldas, Galápagos, Guayas, Imbabura, Loja, Los Ríos, Manabí, Morona Santiago, Napo, Pastaza, Pichincha, Tungurahua, Zamora Chinchipa).
Guillermo Aveledo 9 October 1999

you are right. The law is dated 5-12-1900 and then there were a 12 stars circle of occupying three bands; later more stars were added, and currently are 21, but only until some years ago (when Sucumbios province was created) the stars are 20. I have a pattern with 12 stars; they are in big size and distributed in all three stripes. About 19 stars I'm not sure that the stars are all in the blue stripe because I never saw this image.
Jaume Olle' 12 October 1999

Ecuadorian civil flag is a banner of the 3 colored bands with the ring of white stars centered on the blue. There have been (at least) 3 different versions of that design: a 1970s design with 19 stars, a version that flew for most of the 1980s' with 20 stars (when Galapagos Islandsbecame a province), & the current version (flown since 1989) with 21 stars in a ring (after Sucumbíos split off from Napo, & became a province likewise itself)
Robert Lloyd Wheelock 14 October 1999

Air Force Fin Flash

by Dov Gutterman (based on Antonio Martins image) 9 October 1999

Fuerza Ae'rea Ecuatoriana uses a modified national flag , similar to Colombia.
Dov Gutterman 9 October 1999