The Dominican Republic Flag
The Dominican Republic Flag is representative of centuries of history. Though it hasn’t really changed over the years, the flag’s meaning is still as applicable today as it had been when it was created.
The Dominican Republic is the second largest country in the Caribbean. Unlike most Caribbean countries, rather than being an island country of its own, the Dominican Republic shares the island of Hispaniola with the country of Haiti. Most of its history is dominated by the Spanish, but the Dominican Republic has been governed by the French and by Haiti for relatively short periods of time. The country declared its independence in 1844, and since then, the design of the Dominican Republic Flag has actually been written into the constitution.
The Dominican Republic Flag
Article 95 of the constitution describes the Dominican Republic Flag as consisting “of the colours ultramarine blue and vermilion red in alternate quarters, placed in such a way that the blue is towards the upper part of the staff, separated by wide white cross half as wide as the height of one quarter, and bearing in the centre the arms of the Republic.” The blue and red colors originate from the Haitian flag.
According to the Presidency of the Dominican Republic, the blue on the Dominican Republic Flag represents the idea that God the nation, and the country’s ideals of freedom and progress. The red is symbolic of the blood shed by the country’s liberators in the war for its independence. The cross is a sign of the inheritance of the freedom left to the citizens by its heroes. It’s white to remind all citizens of the importance of peace and unity.
The coat of arms in the center of the Dominican Republic Flag shares some similarities with the flag itself. The flag’s pattern is repeated on a shield in the center of the coat of arms. On the shield itself are four iterations of the Dominican Republic Flag, a Bible, a gold cross, and six spears (four are used to hold up the flags, two are empty). To the left of the shield is a laurel branch. A palm frond is on the right. Above the shield is a blue ribbon with the country’s motto on it, and below the shield is a red ribbon with the country’s name.
The Dominican Republic Flag Flying Before the Trees in Punta Cana, Photo: Mihnea™, Flickr
The flag was originally designed by Juan Pablo Duarte, considered to be the Father of the Dominican Republic. He created a secret society called La Trinitaria which orchestrated the Dominican Republic’s independence. The motto of the Trinitarians was Dios, Patria, Libertad – God, Fatherland, Liberty – and it became the motto for the new country, echoed above the shield of the coat of arms on the Dominican Republic Flag. First sewn by Concepción Bona and her cousin Maria de Jesus Pina, the flag flew for the first time on the day of the Dominican Republic’s independence, February 27, 1844.
While not official, it is common belief that the Bible in the center of the flag’s shield is open to a passage in the Gospel of John that reads, …Y la verdad nos hará libre (…And the truth shall set you free). Given the country’s religious history and desire for freedom, that perhaps, is the core legacy of the Dominican Republic Flag.
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