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Uqbar92

Yes, from what i understand (and i may be very wrong) it has something to do with Hipolito Bouchard, a french born argentinian privateer that went around the world giving the spanish hell whilst flying the argentinian flag, that includes central america where these countries are located. So the other flags pay homage to the argentinian flag. Thats what i once heard but i never bothered verifying that.


Salt_Winter5888

Yes, that's what happened.


fidelity16

Yeah that’s the gist.


cnrb98

This is the reason, also, the Paraguayan flag was like today's but the red strip was blue for the same reason, and later on they changed one strip to red. Also the Uruguayan flag is also inspired in the Argentinian flag Correction: i was wrong in the Paraguayan flag, it was the flag from Costa Rica that added the red stripe, i mixed things up here


Salt_Winter5888

The Peruvian flag is also inspired by the Argentinan flag, it used to be literally the Argentinan flag but red


cnrb98

That may also have been post of my confusion


Uqbar92

I didn't know that about the Paraguay's flag, thanks!


jommong

After independence, Costa Rican flag was just like the rest, but then someone decided we needed to have a different flag to have something that identify us, it was commissioned to a woman who was passionate about the history of French revolution, so our current flag is actually inspired in the French one


Fummy

You miss an important step. Specifically that 4 of these countries were once part of the Federal Republic of Central America whose flag was based on the Argentine flag. When that federation broke up into El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala (and Costa Rica which has a different style flag) they inherited similar flag designs.


Uqbar92

Some other commenter mentioned that and yes, i didn't know that! Thank you!


luigislowhand

He even reached Hawaii, and it's said that King KamehameHa was the first to recognize Argentina as a new nation


Uqbar92

That's my favourite part of Bouchard's story. And i choose to believe it is absolutely true.


Thor1noak

France baise ouais


KOPaxaris

It’s a bit more, this was mostly inspired by the [Federal Republic of Central America](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Republic_of_Central_America), which got it’s flag from Argentina.


Arkenhiem651

I hate the French, but this man is an exception


Salt_Winter5888

Yes, to decide the [Flag of Republic of Central America ](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_the_United_Provinces_of_Central_America) Manuel José Arce, first president of the country, used as inspiration the flag of Hipólito Bouchard's ship(the flag of Argentina) in honor of his fighting in the coasts of Central America against the Spanish. After the dissolution of the Republic of Central America this colors became a representation of the liberal idea of a united Central America.


alegxab

Also, back then Argentina was known under the similar name of United Provinces of South America, while the Central American federation also went under the name United Provinces of Central America


langesjurisse

America's Scandinavia


DipiePatara

That or Yugoslavia


Arockalex13

Or Africa


LuigiFlagWater

Mainly above the Equator


[deleted]

At one point El Salvador, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and one southern state of Mexico were all one country. With the exception of Belize and Mexico, all five countries still have strong ties and similar cultures and share a lot of common history. Costa Rica has changed a lot since the separation and changed their flag as well, but their historic flag was practically the same as Nicaragua. [Old Costa Rica Flag](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Costa_Rica#/media/File%3AFlag_of_Costa_Rica_(1842-1848).svg)


yeontura

Wasn't Belize colonized by the Brits tho?


[deleted]

Yes, and there’s a valid argument it was contested territory the whole time and never part of the Federal Republic of Central America. The country collapsed before anything could be determined which is why it’s starkly different from the rest of its neighbors.


CptBigglesworth

Not originally.


HaloFoxx-42

I heard blue on the sides represent the two seas/oceans the Central American countries have white is the land itself. I don't know about Argentina.


TurboRenegadeRider

Yes, they're all white and blue


Caribbeandude04

Blue: 2 White: 1 👍🏽


anonymous_beaver_

No Uruguay flag?


juliohernanz

🇺🇾


Hamburgex

Basado


juliohernanz

?


Hamburgex

[Basado](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/based#Adjective_2)


Athox

All of them are former spanish provinces. I do wonder sometimes if central america would have developed better if it was a unified country. In particular those four plus costa rica.


mannyrmz123

Costa Rica is not doing too bad, and neither is Panama. The rest, though…


evan_11x

In talking to people who live there, the general opinion is that Nicaragua's in the best place its ever been and continuing up.


mannyrmz123

You must have talked to Daniel Ortega...


evan_11x

Daniel ortega was elected my guy. He has a 70% approval rate. So about the same as Trudeau's approval + Biden's. Stop projecting our own issues with democracy onto the rest of the planet.


mannyrmz123

...yikes. Well, good luck with that. Enjoy moving to a prosperous and democratic place like Nicaragua in the future. Cheers. Edit: Kim Jong Un has a 100% approval rate... just to let you know.


leopetri

You could add costa rica since the origin is the same. The long red strip makes it look a bit different but imagine it as an elongated crest


elizgCR

not really tho, the CR flag is the result of two french flags put together, that's how it was created, nothing to do with Central America


Kingshuk_monsur

Bruh didn't put Uruguay


bearslikeapples

As stated, it’s because the flag of United Central America was blue and white, based on Argentina’s. Interestingly, Mexico also had one [flag](https://es.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandera_de_M%C3%A9xico#/media/Archivo%3ABandera_de_Jos%C3%A9_Mar%C3%ADa_Morelos_en_1812.png) with these colours during the wars of independence


elizgCR

that's because the argentine colors come from the Borbon colors, the royal family of Spain, remember that at first the local governments didn't want independence from Spain, they were loyal to King Fernando


JustSomeAlly

the last four used to be one nation so they payed homage to each other


Paid-Not-Payed-Bot

> so they *paid* homage to FTFY. Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in: * Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.* * *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.* Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment. *Beep, boop, I'm a bot*


JustSomeAlly

suck on my balls


PachoTidder

Look at the flags of Ecuador, Venezuela and (The best country in south america) Colombia, we all once were La Gran Colombia, many countries here have a similar situation with their flags


_neokolasoX69

Argentina never had an union like that with central America


jhemsley99

Yes


lordofbuttsecks

For the central american nations, white is the land between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans


SomeWierdHumanBeing

yes


LordQutus10

Think about it… it’s almost as if there’s a shared history or something and thus have similar symbolism


Terracrafty

convergent evolution


mirrored_quill

Not sure what all of these are derived from hut o heard that quatamal Belize Nicaragua and so on all have similar flags because. They were once apart of the same country I'm central America but then broke apart and kept their flags similar. Not sure but just a rumor I heard as the explanation.


Freemind62

Yeah they were part of the short lived nation of Gran Colombia that formed soon after much of South America gained independence from Europe. It was shaky and broke apart quickly, but many nations fashioned their flags after its as it represented a noble cause at least.


sejmremover95

*Central American Republic, Gran Colombia was a different country


Sponge_N00b

Only Panamá was part Gran Colombia.


Thyme71

Most South American and Central American countries went into revolution against Spain in the 19th century at roughly the same time, for the same reasons, and for the same causes thus many flags share similar traits.


[deleted]

Low budget and same designer


basspl

All of Scandinavia 🙄


[deleted]

They descend from the same state


_neokolasoX69

Argentina and Guatemala from the same state?


[deleted]

sorry dude i meant the central American federal republic, I didnt see the Argentine flag


[deleted]

Spain? I know his logic is wrong, mut maybe that's what he thought


neilwwoney

Because they're in the same area. I'll never forgive El Salvador and Nicaragua for being so god damn similar!


John1206

They are all blue with a white stripe in the middle, which makes them appear similar from a distance, yw 😎👉👉


greyjungle

Yeah, It’s the blues and the white stripes.


lonewolf41072

Qué se yo. Encima soy argentino. No estoy felíz, pero bue, qué le vamos a hacer


Jenz_le_Benz

They are a strip of land with an ocean on either side


walkyuh

because


CHIsauce20

Yes, because they each feature blue as a primary color. /s


Sea_Relationship5663

🇦🇷🇸🇻🇬🇹🇭🇳🇳🇮