Flag Record

Record / PE-NAT-1950

Peru

Bandera Nacional / plain red-white-red triband

NationalSouth AmericaCurrentVertical triband
Peru’s plain national flag with three equal vertical bands, red at each side and white in the center, without an emblem
Current plain national design / hoist:fly 2:3 / public-domain specimen and provenance
Quick answer

Peru’s plain national flag is a 2:3 rectangle with equal red, white, and red vertical bands. It has no central emblem.

Specification

Constitution, article 49, recognizes the red-white-red vertical flag as a national symbol. Law 32251, articles 4 and 23, specifies the plain rectangle and 2:3 hoist-to-fly ratio. The Instituto Geográfico Nacional’s Atlas Digital explicitly describes equal band widths; article 4 does not separately quantify them.

Hoist : fly2 : 3
Band widths1 : 1 : 1
Central deviceNone

Colors and specimen

Red and white are the constitutional color names. These values come from the SVG, not a verified physical production standard.

RedSVG #D91023 / screen approximation
WhiteSVG #FFFFFF / screen approximation

Law 32251 leaves color codes to implementing regulations. The Ministry of Defence’s July 2025 publication is a consultation draft, not proof of enactment. This review did not verify a final regulatory color schedule. No Pantone, RAL, textile tolerance, or manufacturing shade is asserted.

Construction notes

For hoist H, set the fly to 3H/2. Divide the fly into three equal widths of H/2, coloring them red, white, and red. These coordinates express the cited ratio and equal-band guidance; they are not an additional official construction schedule.

The specimen uses a 900 × 600 viewBox. A full red path covers the frame; a white path from x=300 to x=600 covers its central third. Each visible band is 300 × 600. There are no borders, emblems, or lettering. The two red bands use the same fill. Local changes add only the viewBox and accessible provenance metadata to the Commons source-code geometry.

Historical record

El Peruano’s historical account traces the first national flag to San Martín’s decree of 21 October 1820, followed by redesigns in 1822. The law of 25 February 1825 prescribed an armorial vertical triband and a plain merchant version. The plain design therefore predates its modern general national role.

The government’s Bicentennial Project dates regulation of the plain national form to 31 March 1950; the decree also standardized 2:3 proportions. This record dates the plain national form to that measure, rather than treating every earlier flag as the same specimen. Law 32251, promulgated 18 January and published 19 January 2025, repealed Decree Law 11323. It traces the flag’s creation to 1825 and describes its author as anonymous.

The 2026 amendment, Law 32564, changes articles 11, 16, and 24 concerning other symbols and their use; it does not amend the plain flag description in article 4.

Symbols and interpretation

The plain specimen represents Peru through its two colors and band arrangement. El Peruano’s historical account cautions that stories explaining San Martín’s choice of colors lack confirming documentation; the famous dream is a literary story. No single origin story or color-by-color meaning is treated here as a construction requirement.

Usage and status

Under Law 32251, article 8, the Pabellón Nacional adds the Escudo Nacional and is reserved for state institutions. It is a separate flag variant. Article 21 permits compliant use of the plain national flag without prior local authorization outside obligatory dates; mandatory display follows applicable legislation.

The specimen illustrates the plain national flag only. Earlier armorial specimens and the current institutional pavilion require their own identification and should not be substituted for it.

Source trail

Checked 6 September 2026. Spanish legal descriptions are paraphrased in English.