Costa Rica Flags – Tico Flag, Bunting & Hand Flags

The Costa Rican flag: five stripes with a double red

The flag of Costa Rica has five horizontal stripes of blue, white, red, white and blue, with the central red stripe twice the width of the others. It dates from 27 November 1848, when Pacífica Fernández, wife of President José María Castro Madriz, proposed adding red to the blue and white of the old Central American federation in tribute to the ideals of the French Revolution of that year. Blue is the sky and the opportunities it offers, white is peace and wisdom, and red is the warmth of the people and the blood given for the country’s freedom. The state flag places the coat of arms, with its three volcanoes between two oceans and seven stars for the provinces, on a white disc set towards the hoist in the red band; the civil flag is the plain stripes. Our Costa Rica flag keeps the 1:1:2:1:1 proportions so the red band reads correctly as the dominant stripe rather than a thin line.

Independence Day, the faroles and Los Ticos

Independence Day on 15 September marks the 1821 separation from Spain, and in Costa Rica it begins the evening before with the arrival of the freedom torch from Guatemala and the desfile de faroles, the children’s lantern parade, followed by school bands and the flag on every house. Juan Santamaría Day on 11 April and the Annexation of Guanacaste on 25 July are the other patriotic dates. Football is the other reason the flag comes out: Los Ticos, the Sele, stunned Scotland in 1990, won their group over Uruguay, Italy and England at the 2014 World Cup and reached the quarter-finals with Keylor Navas in goal, and have qualified for six finals in all. Costa Rica abolished its army in 1948 and the flag is used as a symbol of that peaceful reputation. In the UK the Costa Rican embassy in London and the Tico community hold 15 September receptions, lantern-making workshops and World Cup screenings, and the flag is a regular at Latin American festivals.

Sizes, grades and fittings

Use a 5ft x 3ft for a flagpole, a bar or a school hall; a 3ft x 2ft for a window, a desk wall or a market stall; an 8ft x 5ft for a stage backdrop or a large fixed mast; and a 20x12in for a car or a hand pole. Flagtex is the printed woven polyester for indoor use and short periods outdoors, and DuraFlag the knitted heavyweight with double-stitched edges for a flag that stays on a pole through the seasons. Both have a sewn header and brass eyelets, and the DuraFlag can also be ordered with clips or rope and toggle.

Costa Rica bunting

Costa Rica bunting is a tape of rectangular pennants in the five-stripe design, sold in 3m and 9m lengths. A 3m length is right for a doorway, a classroom or a table for the 15 September party; a 9m length runs along a hall, a marquee or a bar for the football. The polyester pennants are printed both sides and shrug off the rain.

Hand flags and table flags

Costa Rica hand flags on wooden sticks come in 9x6in and 18x12in for the lantern parade, the football and school projects. The Costa Rica table flag is 6x4in on a base for an office, a coffee bar or a dinner table, and the large wooden table flag at 18x12in suits an embassy desk or a reception. Panama, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador flags are under world flags.

Costa Rica flag FAQs

Popular in this collection

• Costa Rica Flag (20x12in to 8x5ft, Flagtex or DuraFlag)from £6.99
• Costa Rica Bunting (3m or 9m)from £9.98
• Costa Rica Hand Flags (9x6in, 18x12in)from £5.99
• Costa Rica Table Flag 6x4in with Basefrom £1.98
• Costa Rica Large Wooden Table Flagfrom £3.98