458- The present flag of Brazil was largely 

 inherited from the extinct empire. It consists 

 of a green field, twice as long as wide, on which 

 a diamond-shapecf figure is inscribed in yel- 

 low. The green represents the vegetable king- 

 dom and the yellow the mineral. The blue 

 circle within the yellow diamond, studded with 

 stars, is a representation of the heavens at Rio, 

 when the constellation of the Southern Cross 

 is at the meridian. The words stamped in the 

 course of the terrestrial orbit mean "Order 

 and Progress." 



459. The President's flag of Brazil consists 

 of a blue field, with the national coat-of-arms 

 in the center.' The large five-pointed star typi- 

 fying the unity and territorial integrity of the 

 nation is bisected in such a manner that one 

 of the halves of each point is green and the 

 other yellow, symbolizing respectively the vege- 

 table and mineral wealth of the country. The 

 blue circular band inscribed within the star 

 contains twenty-one small silver stars, remind- 

 ers of the twenty States of the Brazilian Union 

 and the neutral city of Rio de Janeiro. The 

 five large stars in the center of the coat-of- 

 arms represent the constellation of the South- 

 ern Cross. The entire shield is upheld by a 

 vertical sword, in the center of whose hilt on 

 a red field is set a star. The shield is encircled 

 by two branches of coffee and tobacco plants 

 as emblems of the country's agricultural wealth, 

 while the straight golden rays, radiating in all 

 directions outward and upward beyond the 

 shield, denote the rising of the sun — that is, 

 the glorious future and destiny of Brazil. In- 

 scribed below are the words "Estados Unidos 

 do Brazil" (the United States of Brazil) and 

 the date of the establishment of the republic, 

 November 15, 1889. 



460. October 18, 1917, will be the centennial 

 of the Chilian flag. October 18, 1817, Gen. 

 Bernardo O'Higgins, the supreme dictator of 

 Chile, decreed its adoption. It consists of a 

 field, the lower half of which is red and the 

 upper white, with a blue canton in the upper 

 left-hand corner occupied by a large five- 

 pointed silver star. 



461. The banner of the President of Chile 

 consists of the national ensign with the coat- 

 of-arms of the country thereon. The condor 

 and guemul supporting the shield represent the 

 strongest and most majestic bird of the Chilian 

 Andes and the most peculiarly Chilian quad- 

 ruped. The tuft of three feathers which 

 crowns the shield was formerly used as a spe- 

 cial mark of distinction on the hat of the Presi- 

 dent of the Republic, as a representation of the 

 supreme executive dignity of the nation. In 

 the old days of wooden ships the sailor who 

 first succeeded in boarding a warship of the 

 enemy and came out of the action alive was 

 rewarded by being crowned with a naval dia- 

 dem of gold. Copies of this crown appear on 

 the head of the condor and the guemul. The 

 inscription on the coat-of-arms means "By 

 Right or Might." 



462. Colombia inherited its flag and coat- 

 of-arms from the Republic of New Granada, 

 of which it is the successor. Following the 

 death of Simon Bolivar, the Colombian Union, 

 set up by him, which consisted of the present 

 republic ,->f Venezuela. Ecuador, Colombia. 



and Panama, ceased to exist, and New Granada, 

 one of the succeeding States, adopted what is 

 now the coat-of-arms and the flag of Colom- 

 bia. The upper half of this flag is yellow, the 

 lower half divided between light blue and 

 bright red, the red strip being at the bottom. 

 On the ensign is embroidered the national coat- 

 of-arms. 



463. The merchant flag of Colombia is a 

 replica of the national ensign, except that in- 

 stead of the coat-of-arms there appears a 

 bright red oval surrounding a small field of 

 blue, upon which is imposed an eight-pointed 

 star. 



464. Colombia's coat-of-arms consists of a 

 shield divided into three horizontal sections, 

 the upper section displaying upon a field of 

 blue a golden pomegranate tinged with red, 

 with the leaves and stem of the same color. 

 On each side of the pomegranate is an in- 

 clined golden cornucopia, the one on the right 

 pouring out toward the center gold coins and 

 the one on the left overflowing with the fruits 

 of the tropics. The middle section of the 

 shield is platinum colored and bears a red lib- 

 erty cap supported upon a lance. The lower 

 section represents a silvery-waved ocean, di- 

 vided by the Isthmus of Panama, with full- 

 rigged ship in both the Pacific Ocean and 

 Caribbean Sea. The shield is supported by 

 four national banners. The crest shows the 

 condor of the Andes with extended wings, 

 from its beak hanging a laurel wreath to which 

 is attached a streamer bearing the inscription, 

 in Latin, in black letters, "Liberty and Order." 



465. For a description of the coat-of-arms 

 of Chile, see 461. 



466. Costa Rica's flag is made up of five 

 stripes, blue at the top and bottom, red in the 

 center, and white between the red and blue. 

 The red stripe is double width. The national 

 coat-of-arms, in diameter equal to the red 

 stripe, is placed in the center of the field. 



467. The merchant flag of Costa Rica is a 

 duplicate of the ensign except that the coat- 

 of-arms is left off. 



468. As revised by the decree of 1906, the 

 coat-of-arms of Costa Rica represents three 

 volcanoes and an extensive valley between two 

 oceans, with a merchant ship sailing on each 

 of them. On the extreme left of the line that 

 marks the horizon is a rising sun. On the 

 upper part of the field are two myrtle palms, 

 half covered and joined by a white ribbon 

 which contains the following inscription in gold 

 letters : "Republica de Costa Rica." The field 

 between the peaks of the volcanoes and the 

 myrtle palms contains five stars of equal size 

 arranged in an arc. The crest of the shield is 

 a blue ribbon interlaced in the shape of a crown 

 and bearing in silver letters the inscription, 

 "America Central." 



469. The quarantine flag of Cuba is yellow, 

 with a black anchor and Greek cross superim- 

 posed upon the center. 



470. The Cuban patriotically calls his na- 

 tional flag "La Estrella Solitaria," or "The 

 Lone Star." This banner became the official 

 emblem of Cuba on the 20th of May, 1902. It 

 consists of a field with three blue and two 

 white horizontal stripes, with a solitary star 

 set in the center of a red equilateral triangle 



364 



