Colombian National Navy

Colombian Navy Armada de la República de Colombia
Coat of arms of the Colombian Navy
Active	September 17, 1810
Country	Colombia
Type	Navy
Role	Protection of the seas and rivers of Colombia
Size	35,086 As of September 2013[update] ~13,000 Officers & sailors ~22,000 Marine Infantry
Motto(s)	Plus Ultra (Latin: further beyond)
March	"Viva Colombia, soy marinero"
Anniversaries	July 24
Engagements	Battle of Lake Maracaibo Thousand Days War (Civil war) Colombia-Peru War World War II Korean War Colombian Armed Conflict Operation Atalanta
Commanders
Current commander	Admiral Leonardo Santamaria Gaitán
Notable commanders	José Prudencio Padilla
Insignia
Naval ensign
Naval jack
Flag
Standard

The Colombian Navy, officially the Colombian National Navy (Spanish: Armada Nacional de la República de Colombia), also known as the "Armada Nacional" or just the "Armada" in Spanish, is the naval branch of the military forces of Colombia. The Navy is responsible for security and defence in the Colombian zones of both the Atlantic (Caribbean) and Pacific oceans, the extensive network of rivers inside the country, and a few small land areas under its direct jurisdiction.

The Colombian Navy has a strength of 35,086 personnel as of September 2013^[update] including approximately 22,000 in the Marine Infantry corps.

The acronym "ARC", (Spanish: Armada de la República de Colombia) is used both as the official ship prefix for all the Colombian Navy ships, as well as a common short name for the Navy itself.

As stated in its institutional site, the mission of the Colombian Navy is:

“Contribute with the defense of the Nation through the effective use of flexible naval power in the maritime, river and land spaces under its responsibility, in order to fulfill the constitutional role and participate in the development of sea power and the protection of the interests of Colombians".

In order to accomplish its mission, the Colombian navy establishes four strategic objectives:

In addition to functions of security and defense the Navy is called to participate in missions aimed to ensure the integral use of the sea by the Nation. For this purpose it must fulfill both military and diplomatic activities along with implementation and enforcement of law and order.

Its formal motto has been historically, "Plus Ultra" (Latin: further beyond); but more recently, and as part of a public media campaign in the 2000s, the additional slogan "Protecting the blue of our flag" (Spanish: Protegemos el azul de la bandera) became known and has been adopted institutionally as well, perhaps as a result of being a more relatable catchphrase to the public than the formal Latin motto.