alike except for the change in stripes, for they 

 both have the coat-of-arms and the same col- 

 ors. The eight-pointed star is on both mer- 

 chant flags (443 and 463), but on the latter it 

 is placed on an oval shield. 



444. Ecuador. — This flag of Ecuador when 

 it was a part of the Republic of Colombia had 

 as its coat-of-arms a design which was very 

 similar to that used at present (see 480). The 

 circle of seven stars in the upper part of the 

 blue stripe represented the seven provinces of 

 the republic. 



445. South Peru. — The flag of this coun- 

 try was in existence but a short time, for the 

 Peruvian - Bolivian Confederation, to which 

 South Peru belonged, only endured about two 

 years. In the process of evolution which 

 brought about the present South American na- 

 tions, stirring events occurred with great ra- 

 pidity and States formed by political factions 

 were dissolved almost overnight. This par- 

 ticular confederation was inaugurated May 1, 

 1837, and consisted of three States — North 

 Peru, South Peru, and Bolivia— with a presi- 

 dent for each and with General Santa Cruz as 

 the supreme director, or dictator, of the whole. 

 It was dissolved following severe fighting and 

 the overthrow of the dictator. 



446. Guatemala. — Conquered in 1525 by 

 the Spaniards under Don Pedro de Alvarado, 



who became famous as Cortes' chief lieutenant 



in the conquest of Mexico and was dispatched 

 by him to effect the conquest of the lands to 

 the south, Guatemala continued under Spanish 

 rule until 1821, when independence was at- 

 tained. The Guatemala of those days con- 

 sisted of the whole of Central America, and 

 it was not until 1839 that it broke up under 

 civil wars into the five republics of Guatemala, 

 Honduras, San Salvador, Nicaragua, and 

 Costa Rica. The flag shown in the illustration 

 was the standard adopted May 31, 1858, which 

 preceded the present ensign (see 482). 



447 - 448 - 449. ENTRE RlOS, CoRRIENTES, 



Santa Fe. — These were the flags of the Span- 

 ish settlements established in what is now Ar- 

 gentina. In the days of the viceroys they were 

 under the control of a government located at 

 Buenos Aires, which in turn was under the 

 authority of the vice-royalty of Peru. Later 

 Buenos Aires became the seat of its own 

 viceroy, having authority over the Argentine 

 Confederation, composed of these three States 

 and the territory now occupied by Uruguay, 

 Paraguay, and Bolivia. Entre Rios, Corri- 

 entes, and Santa Fe are still in existence, their 

 flags today having the same relative impor- 

 tance of our own State flags. The golden sun 

 in the center of the Entre Rios flag is still used 

 in the same position on the ensign of modern 

 Argentina (see 451). 



THE FLAGS OF PAN-AMERICA 



450. The flag of the Pan-American Union , 

 is a pennant adopted in 1907 and embodies all ' 

 of the colors of the twenty-one republics of 

 the Western Hemisphere. 



451. The national banner of the Argentine 

 Republic was devised in 1812. The Congress 

 of Tucuman formally recognized it as the 

 standard of the new Argentine Republic, then 

 officially designated "The United Provinces of 

 the Rio de La Plata." The Argentine banner 

 is something more than • merely the national 

 flag of that Republic. It is associated in a 

 large measure with the glories of Latin Amer- 

 ica, for, under the leadership of General de 

 San Martin (see also 431) and General Bel- 

 grano, it helped to free Bolivia, Chile, Peru, 

 and Ecuador. This flag has three stripes, sky- 

 blue at the top and bottom and white in the 

 middle. In the center of the field is a golden 

 representation of the sun. 



452. The merchant flag of. Argentina, known 

 as the "Bandera Menor," or flag of peace, is 

 exactly like the national ensign, except that the 

 blazing sun is omitted. 



453. The presidential flag of the Argentine 

 Republic consists of a banner upon which the 

 national coat-of-arms is emblazoned. The es- 

 sential principle of the coat-of-arms is that of 

 an ellipse divided by the horizontal diameter, 

 the field of the upper half being sky-blue and 

 that of the lower half white. In the center of 

 the upper section is a carmine liberty cap, sup- 

 ported by a vertical golden staff, held upright 

 by two clasped hands. Around the ellipse is a 



border consisting of a wreath of two inter- 

 twined laurel branches. At the apex there is 

 a- representation of a golden sun. 



454. After Bolivia was liberated by the 

 sword of Gen. Simon Bolivar (see also 433), 

 a national flag and coat-of-arms were adopted. 

 The national ensign consists of three stripes — 

 red at the top, gold in the middle, and green 

 at the bottom. The red denotes the animal 

 kingdom, the gold the mineral kingdom, and 

 the green the vegetable kingdom. In the cen- 

 ter of the field is placed the national coat-of-" 

 arms. 



455. The merchant banner of Bolivia is a 

 duplicate of the national ensign, with the coat- 

 of-arms omitted. 



456. Bolivia's coat-of-arms is elliptical in 

 form. In the center appears the mountain 

 crest of Potosi, celebrated for its traditional 

 mineral wealth ; beneath this are an alpaca, a 

 sheaf of wheat, and a breadfruit tree. In the 

 upper part is a rising sun with light cloud ef- 

 fect. At the apex is the inscription, "Bolivia." 

 On each side of the oval are three Bolivian 

 banners, a cannon, two rifles with fixed bayo- 

 nets pointing upward at an angle ; on the right 

 is an Inca battle-axe and on the left a liberty 

 cap ; above all, as a crest, is the condor of the 

 Andes between two branches of laurel and 

 olive. 



457. The flag of the Argentine Admiral 

 ashore is blue, with three stars next to and 

 parallel with the staff, and an anchor in the 

 center of the field. 



361 



