The color purple is one of the rarest colors in all of vexology (the study of flags), but that doesn’t mean it isn’t. somewhere on the flag! In fact, three national flags use purple in their designs. We’ll look at it all today. let’s start!
three purple flags
Currently, only three flags in the world use the color purple: Dominica, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. Additionally, although not a separate flag, Bolivia’s joint official flag (known as Wifala) contains purple. Let’s take a quick look at all three purple flags and their joint official flag, Wiphala.
Dominica
Dominica, not to be confused with the Dominican Republic, is a small island nation located in the Caribbean Sea. The flag of Dominica is a vibrant and distinctive symbol of the Caribbean island nation. It was officially adopted on November 3, 1978, with a few minor changes in 1981, 1988 and 1990. The original design for the flag was created by playwright Al Wimbley in his early 1978, when Dominica was preparing. formally declared independence and became an independent nation.
The flag of Dominica features a green field with three vertical bands of yellow, black and white and three horizontal bands of yellow, black and white intersecting the center. At the center of the cross is a red disk containing Dominica’s national bird, the island’s endemic and endangered purple cockatoo parrot. The parrot is surrounded by ten green pentagrams representing the ten parishes of Dominica. The colored cross symbolizes the Trinity (within Christianity), her three colors representing the island’s natives, fertile soil and clean water.
El Salvador
El Salvador is one of the countries to include purple in its flag, despite using a rainbow. The triple band represents the flag of the Greater Central American Republic, similar to the early flag of El Salvador in 1875.
The coat of arms is where the purple is visible. This design was adopted in his 1912 and features a green volcano (Soberubios volcano), the sea, a Phrygian hat with a golden staff (symbol of freedom) and a yellow triangular border with a rainbow arch. The iridescent arch contains purple and represents the famous biblical symbol of peace (the pact between God and Noah) in post-flood Genesis. It represents God’s covenant with all living things never to destroy life on earth again. The coat of arms has additional imagery and symbolism, including five additional flags, an indigenous war spear, a laurel wreath, and important dates.
Nicaragua
Nicaragua, like El Salvador, uses purple in its flag via the rainbow arches in its coat of arms. The flag of Nicaragua features a blue-white-blue horizontal tri-band with the coat of arms centered in the middle, just like El Salvador. This tri-band design is common throughout Central America and represents the flag of the Great Central American Republic.
In the middle of the white band of the flag is the coat of arms of Nicaragua. The coat of arms features a triangular border containing five green mountains, a sunburst bay blue sky, a dark blue sea and a Phrygian cap with a rainbow arch.
Common flag of Bolivia (known as Wifala)
Besides the three purple flags, Bolivia’s joint flag also contains purple. This flag is known as a wifala.
The wifala is a square emblem commonly used as a flag to represent the indigenous peoples of the Andes, such as Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, northwestern Argentina, and southern Colombia. There are seven colors, each representing a color of the rainbow. Wiphala colors have specific meanings. Red represents the meaning of the earth and the Andes, orange represents society and culture, yellow represents energy and strength, white represents time and change, green represents natural resources and wealth, blue represents the universe, Purple represents the universe. Represents Andean government and self-determination.
The wifala is a symbol of indigenous unity and pride and is often displayed alongside the flag of the country where the indigenous people live. Some countries, such as Bolivia, recognize it as their official flag.