Spain’s flag is a horizontal red-yellow-red triband in 1:2:1 proportions. The official arms are centered vertically in the yellow band and offset toward the hoist.
Specification
Article 4.1 of the Constitution defines three horizontal red, yellow, and red bands, with the yellow band twice the width of either red band. The normal flag is 2:3. On the armorial form, the coat of arms is two-fifths of the flag’s height and its vertical axis sits one-half flag-height from the hoist.
Official color coordinates
CIELAB H* 35 / C* 70 / L* 37CIELAB H* 85 / C* 95 / L* 80Construction notes
Divide the height into four units: one red, two yellow, and one red. Set the length to six units. For the official armorial form, size the arms to 1.6 units high and place their axis two units from the hoist, centered on the yellow band. Use the published state model for heraldic detail.
Historical record
The red-and-yellow design originated as a naval ensign selected under Charles III in 1785 because it was readily distinguishable at sea. Its use broadened during the nineteenth century. The 1978 Constitution fixed the present band arrangement; laws and royal decrees issued in 1981 standardized use, colors, and the current coat of arms.
Source trail
La Moncloa: The State Symbols of Spain ↗
Official State Gazette: Royal Decree 441/1981, flag colors ↗
Official State Gazette: Royal Decree 2964/1981, arms model and placement ↗
Official coordinates and screen approximations
The recorded official color coordinates from Royal Decree 441/1981 are red: CIELAB H 35 / C 70 / L* 37 and yellow: CIELAB H 85 / C 95 / L* 80.
The specimen’s display values, red #AD1519 and yellow #FABD00, are screen approximations. They are not manufacturing standards or certified conversions of the official coordinates. The illustrative swatches do not establish compliance for physical flag manufacture.
Reading the flag’s geometry
From top to bottom, the flag has three horizontal bands: red, yellow and red. The yellow band is twice the height of either red band, giving a 1:2:1 band-height ratio. Each red band occupies one-quarter of the total height; the yellow band occupies one-half.
The described normal flag has an overall 2:3 height:length ratio. This describes the whole rectangle, separately from the band-height ratio. On the depicted armorial form, the coat of arms is centered vertically in the yellow band and positioned toward the hoist, the edge nearest the flagpole.
Artwork provenance
The imported reference section identifies Wikimedia Commons as the artwork source and retains a public-domain caption. The supplied asset record, asset_584958b96bb32284783a6739, has blank credit, license and source URL metadata. The inherited caption is therefore retained as an existing attribution, without expanding it into additional rights assurances or claiming verification of a particular Commons revision.
Sources and their roles
- La Moncloa — The State Symbols of Spain: historical overview and the constitutional band arrangement; distinguishes the flag’s earlier history from the 1978 milestone.
- Official State Gazette — Royal Decree 441/1981: official flag color coordinates, distinct from the specimen’s hexadecimal screen approximations.
- Official State Gazette — Royal Decree 2964/1981: the 1981 arms model and its placement on the flag, including the described normal proportions.
- Wikimedia Commons — File:Flag of Spain.svg: artwork source linked by the imported record. The supplied asset’s blank credit and license metadata do not support additional rights assurances.