National Symbols of Peru

The Flag of Peru

Created in 1820, it is said that the colors of the Peruvian flag, red and white, occurred to General San Martin during the liberation campaign, when watching a flight of "parihuanas", a variety of flamingo with red wings and white breast, after awaking from a siesta in the desert of Paracas.

National Coat of Arms of Peru

A Congressional law passed by Simon Bolivar in 1825 consecrated the Coat of Arms of Peru.

This comprises three fields: sky blue to upper right, with a vicuña (wild South American camelid, a relative of the llama and the alpaca) looking inwards; white to the upper left with a cinchona tree and red in the horizontal lower field, with a golden cornucopia spilling out gold coins.

These symbols represent the natural wealth of Peru. On the top, like a crest, is a civic crown of oak seen from the side. On both sides the Coat of Arms has a flag and a standard.

National Bird of Peru

Andean Cock-of-the-Rock (Rupicola peruviana) is a medium-sized, approx. 32cm (12½ in) long, passerine with a large disk-like crest and scarlet or brilliant orange plumage. It has black tail and wings. The female is significantly darker and browner than the male and has a shorter crest.

One of the two species in the genus Rupicola, the Andean Cock-of-the-rock is distributed in Andean cloud forests from Venezuela, through Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, to Bolivia. The diet consists mainly of fruits. The male is polygamous and displays in communal lek. The females build shallow nests with mud and plant material on the walls of rocks, hence the common name.

National Flower of Peru

The Cantuta (often spelled kantuta or qantuta, from Quechua qantu) (Cantua buxifolia or Fuchsia buxifolia) is considered the National Flower of Peru.