PANAMA FLAG

On any given day, the national flag flies high and proud outside government offices and many places of business in Panama. Flapping and waving proudly into the air are the distinct white, red and blue on a rectangular cloth divided into quarters. The Panama flag consists of equal-sized rectangles, two of them white, while the remaining two are red and white each. Two stars can be found on the white rectangles, one of them blue, the other one red. Normally hoisted horizontally, the Panama flag shows a red rectangle sitting on the upper right side of the flag; on its left is one white rectangle with a blue star. The bottom half shows the blue rectangle on lower left side with the last white rectangle bearing the red star on the lower right side. Vertical hoisting of the flag is allowed, and this is done by rotating the flag to the right, the blue star always on that top half.

Simple as it may be in design, the Panama flag – like all flags – carry heavy meaning and history. The blue and red rectangles represent the political parties that make up Panama, Conservative and Liberal while the white rectangles represent lasting peace for the country. The blue star is for peace, the red star for governing law; together, the stars stood for the new Republic of Panama. This design is reflective of how influential politics was at the time it was made by Maria Ossa de Amador in November 1903. It was adopted as the country’s flag in December 1903, although there were two different other flags made that same year. The Panamanian government officially recognized the current one as its Panama flag in 1949, providing a description in the December 1949 Law 15.

Flag Day, celebrated every 4^th of November, is a national holiday. The day before is also a national holiday to remember Panama’s independence from Columbian rule. Not much fanfare and festivities revolve around Independence Day and Flag Day, except perhaps for a parade here and there with a few marching bands joining in. Flag Day is usually just a continuation of what programs were held for Independence Day. But whatever activities were planned to commemorate such Panama holidays, it is for certain that a flag raising ceremony is always included.

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