The flag of Costa Rica has five horizontal stripes.
Its bands run blue, white, red, white, and blue from top to bottom. The central red stripe is twice as wide as each of the four outer stripes, so the flag has five bands even though the red center occupies more fabric. The state flag also displays Costa Rica’s coat of arms on the white area toward the hoist, while the civil flag omits the arms.
The modern design was created in 1848 at the suggestion of Pacífica Fernández Oreamuno, the wife of President José María Castro Madriz. Fernández admired the ideals associated with the French Revolution and recommended adding the prominent red stripe to the older Central American blue-and-white pattern. The flag was officially adopted on September 29, 1848.
Readers sometimes count the broad central stripe twice or mistake the coat of arms for an additional band. Neither changes the answer: the layout consists of two blue stripes, two white stripes, and one central red stripe. The colors are commonly interpreted as representing the sky, peace and wisdom, and the blood shed in the struggle for independence.