The flag

Flag

A flag is a piece of fabric with a distinctive design that is usually rectangular and used as a symbol, as a signaling device, or decoration. The term flag is also used to refer to the graphic design employed by a flag, or to its depiction in another medium.The first flags were used to assist...

 of Curaçao

Curaçao

Curaçao is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the Venezuelan coast. The Country of Curaçao , which includes the main island plus the small, uninhabited island of Klein Curaçao , is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands...

represents the Country of Curaçao (from 2010-10-10) as well as the island area within the Netherlands Antilles

Netherlands Antilles

The Netherlands Antilles , also referred to informally as the Dutch Antilles, was an autonomous Caribbean country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, consisting of two groups of islands in the Lesser Antilles: Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao , in Leeward Antilles just off the Venezuelan coast; and Sint...

 from 1984 until its dissolution. The flag was not flown for Curaçao and Dependencies

Curaçao and Dependencies

The Colony of Curaçao and Dependencies was a Dutch colony from 1815 until 1828 and from 1845 until 1936. Between 1936 and 1948, the area was known as the Territory of Curaçao , and after 1948 as the Netherlands Antilles...

 for which the flag of the Netherlands

Flag of the Netherlands

The flag of the Netherlands is a horizontal tricolour of red, white, and blue. Since 1937, the flag has officially been the national flag of the Netherlands and of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.-Description:...

 was used. The flag is a blue field with a horizontal yellow stripe slightly below the midline and two white, five-pointed stars in the canton

Flag terminology

Flag terminology is a jargon used in vexillology, the study of flags, to describe precisely the parts, patterns, and other attributes of flags and their display.-Description of standard flag parts and terms:...

. The blue symbolises the sea and sky (the bottom and top blue sections, respectively) divided by a yellow stroke representing the bright sun which bathes the island. The two stars represent Curaçao and Klein Curaçao, but also 'Love & Happiness'. The five points on each star symbolise the five continents from which Curaçao's people come.

According to Flags of the World, the horizontal stripe have ratio 5:1:2. The stars have diameters 1/6 and 2/9 of the flag height. The centre of the smaller one is 1/6 the flag height from the left and top edges, and the centre of the larger is 1/3 from the left and top edges. The blue is Pantone

Pantone

Pantone Inc. is a corporation headquartered in Carlstadt, New Jersey, USA. The company is best known for its Pantone Matching System , a proprietary color space...

 280, and the yellow, Pantone 102.

After Aruba

Aruba

Aruba is a 33 km-long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, located 27 km north of the coast of Venezuela and 130 km east of Guajira Peninsula...

's adoption of its own flag

Flag of Aruba

Aruba's national flag was adopted on March 18, 1976. The design consists of a field of light blue , two narrow parallel horizontal yellow stripes in the bottom half, and a four-pointed white-fimbriated red star in the canton.The design elements have multiple symbolic meanings:* The blue field...

 (while still part of the Netherlands Antilles

Netherlands Antilles

The Netherlands Antilles , also referred to informally as the Dutch Antilles, was an autonomous Caribbean country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, consisting of two groups of islands in the Lesser Antilles: Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao , in Leeward Antilles just off the Venezuelan coast; and Sint...

), Curaçao received approval for a flag in 1979. Two thousand designs were submitted to a special council; ten were shortlisted, and the council decided on 29 November 1982. With some modifications, the flag was adopted on 2 July 1984.