Which province does the eighth star on Venezuela's flag represent?

The eighth star on Venezuela’s flag represents Guayana Province. It was added to recognize the province’s incorporation into the Venezuelan republic after the Guayana campaign during the independence period.

Simón Bolívar ordered the eighth star in a decree issued at Angostura on 20 November 1817. Venezuela’s earlier flag had seven stars, representing the seven provinces that supported the declaration of independence. The additional star symbolized Guayana as a newly liberated province.

The modern flag retains the yellow, blue and red tricolour associated with Venezuela’s independence movement, with eight white stars arranged in an arc across the blue band. The eighth star was restored in 2006, when the government said it was implementing Bolívar’s original decree. That change also revised the national coat of arms.

Guayana Province is a historical designation, not the name of a single modern Venezuelan state. Its former territory corresponds broadly to areas including Amazonas, Bolívar and Delta Amacuro, as well as territory west of the Essequibo River claimed by Venezuela. That historical and ongoing territorial dispute explains why the star’s meaning is sometimes discussed alongside Venezuela–Guyana relations.