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Flags of Chile

Spanish colonization of Chile begins in earnest in 1541, when Pedro de Valdivia founds Santiago on behalf of the Crown, establishing Spanish rule across the fertile central valley. But Spain never manages to subdue the Mapuche south of the Biobío River, who hold that frontier through the Arauco War for well over 250 years of the colonial period — a genuinely distinct story next to most of Spain's other American possessions, where conquest was far more complete.

Independence follows a hard road: after a 1814 royalist reconquest ends the short-lived “Patria Vieja,” Bernardo O'Higgins and José de San Martín lead a combined Chilean–Argentine army across the Andes in January 1817, and O'Higgins proclaims Chilean independence on 12 February 1818 under essentially the same star-and-stripes flag still flown today. What follows is, by regional standards, an unusually long and stable run of constitutional government — punctuated by the War of the Pacific (1879–84), in which Chile defeats an allied Peru and Bolivia and annexes Bolivia's Pacific coastline, a decisive and still-sensitive episode in the region's own history — before that stability breaks decisively on 11 September 1973, when the military overthrows elected president Salvador Allende; Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship then holds power until a 1988 plebiscite defeat and the 1990 return to civilian rule.

Scope of this page: the lands of present-day Chile, c. 1541–present, six political entries. Chile's own modern territory was never split into separate crowned or governing entities the way some other pages in this atlas track, so — per the same rule applied elsewhere — the map below traces the whole country rather than an internal partition. Part of a larger atlas — see the linked pages at the bottom.

One long coastline, six eras

Chile’s own real border, traced whole — the country’s modern territory was never split into separately governed pieces the way some other pages in this atlas track. Press play, or drag the slider, to watch who held all of it, era to era.

This is a single-region page, not a partition map. Chile’s narrow ribbon of territory between the Andes and the Pacific was fought over at its frontiers (the unconquered Mapuche south, the annexed Bolivian coastline after 1884) but never itself divided between rival governments the way Hungary or Cyprus were. What changes here is only who held it, not how it was cut up.

to 1541

Real traced border (johan/world.geo.json) — no internal partition, per the rule box above.

La Estrella Solitaria — unchanged in design since 1817–18

1990 – present

Republic of Chile (democratic, modern)

Republic, democraticPatricio AylwinSecular (no state religion)

Migration & conquest:Immigration: Venezuelan & Haitian migrants (2010s–)

Who & why: Pinochet loses the October 1988 plebiscite on extending his rule, and civilian government returns in March 1990 under elected president Patricio Aylwin. Democratic institutions and regular elections have continued without interruption since, through a series of peaceful transfers of power across the political spectrum.

What it represents: the same national flag flown since O'Higgins's 1817–18 decree — white and red bands with a blue canton and single white five-pointed star, La Estrella Solitaria (the Lone Star) — carried forward unchanged through the return to democracy.

Paint guide

Proportions2:3, two equal horizontal bands (white over red); blue square canton on the white band, side equal to the band's height.

LayoutWhite top band, red bottom band, blue canton in the upper hoist with a single centered white five-pointed star.

White#F4EFE1

Red#D52B1E

Blue#0039A6

same national flag, flown throughout the military government

1973 – 1990

Military dictatorship under Pinochet

Military dictatorshipAugusto PinochetSecular (no state religion)

Migration & conquest:Emigration: political exiles fleeing the dictatorship

Who & why: on 11 September 1973 the armed forces, led by Army commander Augusto Pinochet, overthrow the democratically elected socialist government of Salvador Allende, who dies during the assault on the presidential palace, La Moneda. Pinochet then heads a military government until 1990; his rule is marked by significant political repression, including thousands of forced disappearances and deaths, and by market-oriented economic reforms. He steps aside after losing the 1988 plebiscite and the 1990 transition to civilian rule.

What it represents: the national flag is unchanged — the government made no alteration to the 1817–18 design, flying the same white, red, and blue star flag as both the preceding republic and the democracy that follows.

Paint guide

Proportions2:3, unchanged from the standing national design.

LayoutWhite top band, red bottom band, blue canton with a single white five-pointed star.

White#F4EFE1

Red#D52B1E

Blue#0039A6

fixed by O'Higgins's decree, essentially unchanged across a century and a half

1818 – 1973

Republic of Chile (19th–20th century)

RepublicBernardo O'HigginsRoman Catholic (official until 1925)

Migration & conquest:Immigration: German colonists to the south (1850s–)Immigration: Palestinian immigrants (from early 1900s)

Who & why: from independence in 1818, Chile builds a comparatively long and stable constitutional republic by the standards of newly independent Spanish America, with regular succession under a series of 19th- and 20th-century constitutions. The largest single episode of this era is the War of the Pacific (1879–84), fought against the allied forces of Peru and Bolivia over nitrate-rich northern territory; Chile wins decisively, and by the war's settlement Bolivia loses its entire Pacific coastline while Chile annexes it along with formerly Peruvian territory further north — a decisive and still-sensitive episode in the region's own history, noted here factually as part of Chile's own territorial timeline. This single flag continuity spans over 150 years, through the War of the Pacific, the early-20th-century parliamentary and presidential republics, and the Popular Unity government of Salvador Allende elected in 1970, up to the 1973 coup.

What it represents: the design fixed by O'Higgins's 1817–18 decree — white and red bands, blue canton, single white star — carried through this entire span essentially unaltered.

Paint guide

Proportions2:3, formalized over the course of the 19th century.

LayoutWhite top band, red bottom band, blue canton with a single white five-pointed star.

White#F4EFE1

Red#D52B1E

Blue#0039A6

the 1812 Patria Vieja tricolor; the star-and-stripes design followed in 1817–18

1817 – 1818

War of independence — Patria Nueva

Revolutionary governmentBernardo O'HigginsRoman Catholic

Who & why: the first independence government, the “Patria Vieja” (1810–14), flies an early blue-white-yellow tricolor from 1812 before Spanish royalist forces reconquer the country in 1814. From exile in Argentina, Bernardo O'Higgins and José de San Martín organize the Army of the Andes and cross the mountains in January 1817, winning the decisive Battle of Chacabuco. O'Higgins formally proclaims Chilean independence on 12 February 1818, adopting the white-red-blue star flag that remains Chile's national flag today.

What it represents: the flag shown is the 1812 Patria Vieja tricolor, Chile's first national banner; it is replaced by the definitive white, red, and blue star design under O'Higgins in 1817–18, the same flag carried into every entry after this one.

Paint guide

ProportionsNo fixed ratio recorded; shown at 3:2.

LayoutThree equal horizontal bands: blue, white, yellow.

Blue#0039A6

White#F4EFE1

Yellow#F0C419

Cross of Burgundy — simplified Spanish colonial banner

1541 – 1810s

Captaincy General of Chile

ColonyPedro de ValdiviaRoman Catholic (Spanish colonial)

Migration & conquest:Conquered by: Spain (central & northern Chile, from 1541)Immigration: enslaved Africans (Spanish colonial, forced)

Ruling house:House of HabsburgHouse of Bourbon

Who & why: Pedro de Valdivia founds Santiago in February 1541, establishing Spanish rule across the central valley as a captaincy general under the Viceroyalty of Peru. But the Mapuche south of the Biobío River fight the Arauco War against Spanish forces for over 250 years and are never fully conquered during the colonial period — a genuinely distinct frontier story next to Spain's other American colonies, most of which saw far more complete conquest.

What it represents: the Cross of Burgundy (a red saltire on white), widely used as a military and colonial banner across the Spanish Empire, shown here as a simplified approximation of the flags flown over Spanish Chile; no single flag was specific to the captaincy itself.

Paint guide

ProportionsNo fixed civil ratio recorded for this period; shown at 3:2.

LayoutWhite field, red diagonal saltire cross (Cross of Burgundy, simplified — the historical version has ragged, knotted edges).

White#F4EFE1

Red#D52B1E

placeholder maroon field — pre-contact era, no flag survives

to 1541

Pre-colonial indigenous peoples

No unified polityNo single ruler documentedIndigenous traditions (no state religion)

Migration & conquest:Conquered by: Inca Empire (northern & central Chile, 15th c.)

Who & why: before Spanish contact, the territory of present-day Chile is home to the Mapuche across the central-south, the Diaguita in the north-central valleys, and other distinct peoples including the Atacameño, Aymara, and Chango further north, along with the Selk'nam and other groups in the far south. No single polity governs this territory, and no central authority unites these peoples before 1541.

What it represents: no securely documented flag survives from this era; these were not flag-using societies in the European heraldic sense, and no banner can be honestly attributed to any of them. Shown here blank rather than invented.

Paint guide

ProportionsN/A — no attested flag.

Reading the tags

No unified polity — no single ruling authority

Colony — governed as part of a foreign empire

Revolutionary government — wartime independence authority

Republic — sovereign constitutional government

Military dictatorship — constitutional rule suspended under military rule

Republic, democratic — sovereign, elected civilian government

Leader — the named ruler most associated with the era's start

State religion — the official/established faith, not the population's

Find the records

Family history research for Chile lives in a different project, Record Atlas, which maps which archive actually holds the paper for a given place and era.

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