Flag of Chile

Chile

Use	National flag and ensign
Proportion	2:3
Adopted	18 October 1817
Design	A horizontal bicolor of white and red with the blue square ended on the upper hoist-side corner of the white band bearing the white five-pointed star in the center.
Designed by	Ignacio Zenteno or Gregorio de Andía y Varela.
Variant flag of Chile
Name	Presidential Standard
Design	Same design as the National Flag with the National Coat of Arms superimposed at the center.
Designed by	Alfonso Martinez Delpelao

The country of Chile's flag consists of two unequal horizontal bands of white and red and a blue square the same height as the white band in the canton, which bears a white five-pointed star in the center. It was adopted on October 18, 1817. The Chilean flag is also known in Spanish as (The Lone Star).

It has a 3:2 ratio between length and width, it is divided horizontally into two bands of equal size (being the lower red). The upper area is divided once: in a square (blue), with a single centered white star; and rectangle (white), whose lengths are in proportion 1:2.

The star may represent a guide to progress and honor while other interpretations refer to its reference to an independent state; blue symbolizes the sky and the Pacific Ocean, white is for the snow-covered Andes, and red stands for the blood spilled to achieve independence.

According to the epic poem La Araucana, the colors were derived from those from the flag flown by the Mapuche during the Arauco War. "Flag Day" is held each year on the ninth of July to commemorate the 77 soldiers who died in the 1882 Battle of La Concepción.

The first records on the possible use of flags by indigenous peoples date back to the War of Arauco, the most famous being the use described in the late 16th century epic poem La Araucana. In Canto XXI, Alonso de Ercilla described Talcahuano, warrior and chief of the Mapuche who work the lands near the present-day city that bears his name, bearing emblems of blue, white and red. Another important piece of information is that the colors of the flag were chosen from the ancient chile that they made which was treasured worldwide.

Two flags have been documented as used by Mapuche troops. However, these descriptions were made late in the eighteenth century without certainty about the age of them. One consisted of a five-pointed white star on a blue background similar to the canton of the current Chilean flag, while the second had a white eight-pointed star centered on a blue diamond with border zigzagged over a black background. The latter flag appears to be waved by the chief Lautaro in the best-known artistic representation of it, created by painter Pedro Subercaseaux.