The Flag of Cusco And Its Similarities With Other Flags

Today the city of Cusco has as one of its symbols the flag of the seven colors of the rainbow, known by others as the flag of Tawantinsuyo.

This theme of the flag, its origin and its meaning is controversial, because there are several explanations of which many are not true and within them we have:

1.- It is the flag of the Incas

Many believe that the flag of the seven colors is the flag of the Incas, because it represents the rainbow, but they are wrong, the Incas did not have any type of flag and no chronicler makes reference to it. This is affirmed by the historian Maria Rostworowski ” I give my life, the Incas did not have that flag, that flag did not exist, no chronicler makes reference to it. […]”

2. It is the LGBT flag

Many people, especially tourists, when they see the multicolor flag often think that it is the emblem of the gay movement and even more so in the month of June, which is when Cusco dresses in colorful flags for the celebrations of Cusco. On the Plaza de armas and the houses people place a flag with the colors of the rainbow to pay tribute to this date. This causes an impact on visitors and the question is asked, are there many gay people in Cusco ? They are also wrong, the flag of Cusco, the flag of the rainbow, has seven colors and the flag of gay pride has only six colors, except the sky blue. The confusion is that the colors of both flags are distributed in the same order in horizontal lines.

3. It is the flag of peace.

This flag of peace is very similar. It has the same colors as the flag of Cusco with the difference that the colors are inverted.

4. It is the flag of Cusco.

Right. It is the flag of the city of Cusco designed in 1973 by the founder of the radio station “Tawantinsuyo”, Raúl Montesinos Espejo. In honor of the celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the same, he designed this flag with 7 horizontal stripes and with the colors of the rainbow, flag. Later in 1978 it is acquired by the Municipality of Cusco and becomes an emblem of the city, a modern symbol that recalls our past but that has no proven historical basis.