flag uruguay postcard

Flag of Uruguay. The national flag of Uruguay (Pabellón Nacional) has a field of nine equal horizontal stripes alternating white and blue. The canton is white, charged with the Sun of May, from which 16 rays extend, alternating between triangular and wavy. The flag was first adopted by law on December 16, 1828, and had 19 stripes until July 11, 1830, when a new law reduced the number of stripes to nine. The horizontal stripes on the flag represent the nine original departments of Uruguay. The first flag designed in 1828 had 9 light blue stripes; this number was reduced to 4 in 1830 before the proclamation of the country's first Constitution. The Sun of May represents a new nation in the world.