Introduction
The flag of Puebla is a plain white field bearing the arms of the city. The shield is round and heart shaped, with five golden towers at the centre and two angels above them, and the letters K.V. for Karolus V, the emperor Charles V.
Around the shield runs Psalm 91:11 in Latin: ANGELIS SVIS DEVS MANDAVIT DE TE VT CVSTODIANT TE IN OMNIBVS VIIS TVIS, God has commanded his angels to guard you in all your ways.
Meaning & Symbolism
The angels are not decoration, they are the founding story. The legend holds that angels traced the streets of the city and carried the bells up into the cathedral towers, which is why the original and still best known name of the place is Puebla de los Ángeles, and why it is also called Angelópolis.
The five towers stand for the city itself, the psalm names the protection the angels are said to have given it, and the K.V. records the emperor reigning when the city received its title.
History of the Puebla Flag
The city was proposed to the Council of the Indies in 1531 by friar Toribio de Benavente as the ensayo de la Puebla de los Ángeles. On 20 March 1532, by cédula of Queen Isabella of Portugal given at Medina del Campo, it received the title Ciudad de los Ángeles.
The name kept growing. On 11 September 1862 president Benito Juárez decreed the title Puebla de Zaragoza, for general Ignacio Zaragoza. The state congress added Heroica on 4 August 1950, and on 23 April 2014 made it Cuatro Veces Heroica Puebla de Zaragoza.
The flag that carries these arms has no recorded adoption date or official proportions.
Curiosities
- The full official name of the city is Cuatro Veces Heroica Puebla de Zaragoza, four times heroic, a title completed in 2014.
- The Latin ring around the shield is Psalm 91 verse 11, about angels guarding you in all your ways.
- The letters K.V. stand for Karolus V, the Latin form of Charles V.
- The legend behind the arms says angels laid out the streets of the city and hauled the bells into the cathedral towers.
- The city was granted the title Ciudad de los Ángeles in 1532 by Isabella of Portugal, wife of Charles V, acting as regent.
Download Flag
Download the flag of Puebla in high-quality SVG vector format or PNG raster images. SVG files can be scaled to any size without losing quality.
Digital icon artwork; its proportions may differ from the official flag proportions listed on this page.
Construction Sheet
The flag's official proportions are a ratio of 4:7 (width to length). The central emblem is positioned precisely in the center of the white field. The emblem itself is a square shape, with its height equal to three-fourths (3/4) of the flag's hoist (width). The complex internal division of the emblem into four colored triangles follows specific geometric guidelines to ensure consistency in reproduction.
Flags Similar to Puebla Flag
Common Misidentifications
Rarely misidentified due to its unique design, but the color palette shares hues with several national flags.