The Barranquilla flag has been used since 1811. This flag was adopted when the Independence of Cartagena was achieved.
This flag is also the same for the Colombian departments of Malambo, Cartagena and Carmen de Bolívar.
This flag consists of a rectangle-shaped red stripe, followed by another yellow rectangular stripe, and finally a green rectangular stripe. Within the green stripe is a white eight-pointed star.
Although the exact meaning of the flag is not known, the color red is believed to represent the blood that was shed to achieve Independence.
The yellow color means the freedom achieved and the green color refers to the hope for a bright future.
Each point of the star represented each town in the province of Barranquilla: Barranquilla, Calamar, Galapa, Malapo, Palmar de Varela, Sabanagrande, Soledad, Santo Tomás and Tubara.
However, in 1866 the district of Calamar was annexed to Cartagena, so Barranquilla was left with 8 districts.
If this were updated today, the Barranquilla flag should have 22 points representing its current 22 municipalities.
You may also be interested in the Barranquilla shield.
History
It is believed that this flag was adopted by the entire region when the Independence of Cartagena was achieved in 1810.
For this reason, Barranquilla, Malambo, Cartagena and Carmen de Bolívar share this same flag.
Led by Manuel Rodríguez Torices, the men created a rectangular flag that consisted of three stripes: the one outside in red, the one in the center in bright yellow, and the last one in green. In this last strip an eight pointed star was placed.
This star represented the eight provinces of the region that made up the Free State of Cartagena at that time. It was decided to use the then flag of Cartagena to honor such an honorable cause.
Use
During the year 1812, the Liberator Simón Bolívar carried this flag as part of the Bajo Magdalena campaign.
Likewise, the Liberator also carried this flag during the Admirable Campaign in 1813, in which the city of Caracas was liberated.
A year later, it was granted by the Tunja Congress with the honor of being the emblem of the United Provinces of New Granada. This was very important as this flag represented the first symbol of national unity.
It was this flag that the independentistas carried when they fought in the great battles during the War of Independence.
The story goes that Atanasio Girardot himself held this flag in his arms when he was assassinated in the battle of Bárbula.
Legend has it that when he died he pronounced these words: "My God, allow me to nail this Flag on top of that mountain and if it is Your Will that I succumb, I will gladly die."
By 1845 this city had been one of the territories that made up the province of Cartagena for some time.
But in 1852 the Congress of Nueva Granda promulgated a law that separated the province of Cartagena from Barranquilla. However, Barranquilla continued to use this flag.
In 1857 Barranquilla was granted the status of a city. In 1886, the Republic of Colombia was established and this city became one of its 34 departments.
In 1910 the Municipal Council of Barranquilla authorized this department to continue using this flag.
It was decided that the cities of Barranquilla and the city of Cartagena would use the same flag to indicate the common patriotic ancestry of their inhabitants.
Although it began as a symbol of Cartagena, the city of Barranquilla quickly made it its own and to this day they feel deeply identified with it.
Meaning
It is believed that these pure colors were used since they wanted to continue the tradition of using bright colors that represented the creation of a new province.
There are no official documents or stories that relate the meaning or why of choosing these colors, but possible explanations have been suggested over the years.
The color red is quite dramatic and the theory is that it represented the people who had to die to achieve Independence.
Red is the color of blood, so this tonality is appropriate to represent the blood shed by the liberators.
On the other hand, it is assumed that the bright yellow color acted as a symbol of the bright sun that would be observed from the new, and now free, region.
The color green has traditionally represented hope, so it is believed that in this case it signified the hope of creating a new patriotic territory that would flourish and be successful.
On the other hand, each point of the star located in the middle of the green rectangle represents the districts of Barranquilla.
At that time these towns were the following: Barranquilla (Arroyo de piedra, Camacho, Sabanilla, La Playa and Boca de Caño de Juan y Mina) Calamar, Galapa, Malambo, Palmar de Varela, Sabanagrande (Arroyo grande), Soledad (San Blas), Santo Tomás y Tubara (Ostrero, Sibarco).
Later the district of Calamar would cease to be part of Barranquilla, since it was annexed to the province of Cartagena.
Then there were only eight municipalities within that territory; for this reason the flag has eight stars.
Traditionally, this flag has remained unchanged throughout its history, although this department is currently made up of 22 municipalities.
References
- The eight points of the star (2007). Recovered from bquilla.blogspot.com
- Learn why Barranquilla shares a flag with three municipalities in Colombia (2016). Recovered from bluradio.com
- Barranquilla. Recovered from wikipedia.org
- General information (2010). Recovered from barranquilla.gov.co
- The symbols of Barranquilla. Recovered from barranquillabicentenaria.com
- Barranquilla (2016). Recovered from crwflags.com
- What does the flag and the shield of Barranquilla mean. Recovered from elheraldo.co
- The flag and shield of Barranquilla. Recovered from arenosa.blogspot.com
- Symbols. Recovered from sites.google.com