South Peru within the Peruvian-Bolivian Confederation (1838-1839)

Last modified: 2005-11-19 by antonio martins
Keywords: south peru | error | crescent: points to fly (yellow) | sun: 24 rays | sun: face | star: 5 points (white) | stars: arch | stars: 4 |
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• About the flag
• Incorrect version from the Hispanic Encyclopaedia
• Incorrect version from Le Gras
• Incorrect version from Fuentes

• Peruvian-Bolivian Confederation
• Peru

About the flag

On 17 march 1836 representatives of the four southern provinces meet in Sicuani and created the South Peruvian State. On the 20th a new flag for South Peru was decreed. It was composed of three stripes, a vertical red one at the hoist and green over white horizontal stripes in the fly. Thus it combined the general colors and designs of both the bolivian and peruvian flags. Since South Peru consisted of Four provinces (Arequipa, Puno, Cuzco and Ayacucho) it adopted four stars in a semicircle over a radiant Inca sun as its cotas of arms, the same device appearing on the green stripe of its flag.
Jaume Ollé, 27 Oct 2001, quoting from [fue75]

J. G. Fuentes [fue75] shows the flags of South Peru 1836-39. The flag had equal stripes, a red one vertical at the hoist bearing 4 gold stars over a gold Inca Sun, and green over white horizontal stripes in the fly. The sun is always depicted with facial features. (The drawing above was copied from original source documents of the South Peruvian government).
Dave Martucci, 19 Mar 2000

In the seventies, prof. Lux-Wurm made a study on it and it came out that the devices on the red field were a yellow sun surmounted by four white stars [and not a crescent]. The four stars stand for the departments of the State: Cuzco, Puno, Arequipa and Ayacucho. This flag was in use from 20/3/1836 until 2/1839. The most interesting source is J. Basadre, Chile, Perú y Bolivia independentes [bsr], where is reproducted an engraving of the time seeming to be an official design. Mistakes made by so many authors in representing a crescent instead of a sun derived by a very poor official description of the flag in the law that stated the coat of arms and the flag:

The arms of the new State are a sun with four stars placed as a rainbow. The flag has the colors red, green and white.

The decree establishing the flag describes the emblems as gold.
Dave Martucci, 23 Oct 2001

The South Peruvian coat-of-arms in the coin shown on the cover of The Flag Bulletin XIV:5 (Sep-Oct 1975) [tfb] (illustrating [fue75]) shows the sun with five stars.
Jaume Ollé, 27 Oct 2001

Incorrect version from the Hispanic Encyclopaedia

The Hispanic Encyclopaedia (Enciclopedia Hispano-Americana) places the green at the hoist and red over white at the fly; on the green a yellow sun with four white stars below it.
Mario Fabretto, 10 Jul 1997

This encyclopaedia reproduces for each county the color plates of Flaggenbuch 1905 [ruh05] but latin-american countries are treated more deeply and images from other sources were added — 19th cent. peruvian flags are not in [ruh05].
Jaume Ollé, 27 Oct 2001

Incorrect version from Le Gras

This flag [with crescent] is quite common on many late 19th century sources but it was found to be wrong. The mistake made by so many authors in representing a crescent instead of a sun derived by a very poor official description of the flag.
Mario Fabretto, 10 Jul 1997

In the Flags of the World edition of the National Geographic magazine of 1917 [gmc17] I have found the following flag for South Peru (no 445): Vertically divided, near the hoist red, the fly horizontally divided green over white. In the upper corner near the hoist a yellow crescent pointing towards the fly, between the points are four stars arranged in an arc. In the text is said 1835-1837.
Harald Müller, 30 Nov 1995

On the book of Le Gras [leg58] the flag is red at the hoist, green over white at the fly with the crescent and the stars in gold. The 1917 issue of National Geographic Magazine [gmc17] shows the same pattern.
Mario Fabretto, 10 Jul 1997

In [gmc17], the red area is 1/2 the length of the fly.
Phil Nelson, 15 Mar 2000

J. G. Fuentes [fue75] concludes that the South Peruvian flag that appeared in the National Geographic and in other places was an error copied from earlier errors. No Peruvian source shows a crescent and stars emblem.
Dave Martucci, 19 Mar 2000

Incorrect version from Fuentes

In the Historia de las Banderas de América, by J.G. Fuentes [fueXX], the flag is a vertical tricolor red, white, green, with a sky-blue shield in the center over which the yellow sun surmounted by four white stars.
Mario Fabretto, 10 Jul 1997

In my opinion, this is just an incorrect reconstruction.
Jaume Ollé, 27 Oct 2001