On July 20th, 1816, days after the Declaration of Independence, the Congress of Tucumán officially adopted the light blue and white flag as the patriotic symbol of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata. This decision consolidated the emblem designed by General Manuel Belgrano as an expression of unity, freedom and sovereignty for the people who had just broken their ties with the Spanish monarchy.

The flag had been created by Belgrano on February 27th, 1812 and hoisted for the first time on the banks of the Paraná River, in the city of Rosario. That gesture, which expressed the will of independence, had not yet been officially recognized. Only after the Declaration of Independence on July 9th, 1812, the Congress gathered in Tucumán resolved the formal recognition of the national flag on July 20th, and later, on February 25th, 1818, ratified the current design, incorporating the Sun of May in the center.

The Official Flag of the Argentine Nation presents three horizontal stripes: two light blue at the ends and a white one in the center, where the Sun is reproduced, taken from the first national coins, of gold and silver, issued in 1813. This sun, of a golden yellow color, symbolizes the birth of a new Nation.

Although this adoption was key in the process of symbolic construction of our national identity, the Flag Day is celebrated on June 20, in homage to the death of its creator, General Belgrano, which occurred in 1820. In 1938, the National Congress passed Law No. 12.361, which officially established this date as a national holiday and commemoration day.

July 20th thus represents a key moment in Argentine history: the definitive recognition of the symbol that, since then, represents us in the country and the world. The flag is not only an emblem; it is the expression of the ideals of freedom and self-determination that gave birth to the Nation.