The flag of Guatemala consists of three equal vertical bands of light blue (hoist side), white, and light blue, with the national emblem of Guatemala centered in the white band. The national emblem of Guatemala comprises of a wreath of bay laurel branches, the Resplendent Quetzal (the national bird of Guatemala), a scroll with 'LIBERTAD 15 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 1821' written on it, two crossed Remington rifles and two crossed swords. When used for civil purposes, the flag should not contain the national emblem of Guatemala

Guatemala flag is one of only two current national flags to feature a firearm (Mozambique is the other)

Central American states declared independence from Spain on 15 September 1821. Till 1823 these Central American states (Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica) were ruled by Mexico. Flag of the First Mexican Empire Designed by Agustin Iturbide was the de facto flag for the region



These Central American provinces united in a federation in 1823. As part of the thefederation, the flag of the United Provinces of Central America is the de facto flag for the region.



As a result of ideological differences, the states of the Central American provinces started disintegrating by 1840. To reflect its independent aspirations, Guatemala used a new flag from 1838 to 1843, which included five volcanoes, a rising sun, the cap of liberty and an arrow



Newly independent Guatemala hoisted a new flag on November 14, 1843 which included five volcanoes, a rising sun and bay laurel branches.



Pro-Spanish group took over the government of Guatemala in 1851 and added the Spanish colors of red and yellow to the flag and that version of the flag was used until 1858



In 1858, a new flag with different proportion was made the flag of Guatemala and it was used until the current version of the flag was adopted in 1871



The current version of the flag was adopted on August 17, 1871 and minor changes were made on on September 15, 1968 and December 26, 1997

In 2008, Bandera de Los Pueblos (Flag of indigenous peoples) was adopted by law and is shown together with the national flag of Guatemala in all events featuring President of the Republic since then. The flag is divided in four parts, red, yellow, white and black, each colour representing Xinca people, Garifuna people, Maya peoples and Ladino people, respectively. These colours are also part of the Q'anil, a Maya symbol in which each colour represents a point of the compass, an element of anture and a part of the human being. Q'anil means "seed" in Maya script, and it's also used for one of the 20 days of the Maya calendar.