On November 20, 1817, in the Palace of Angostura, current Bolívar state, the Liberator Simón Bolívar decreed the incorporation of an eighth star to the National Flag, to vindicate the role of the Province of Guayana in the War of Independence.
«Having increased the number of provinces that make up the Republic of Venezuela, by the incorporation of Guayana, decreed on October 15, I decree: Single article. To the seven stars that the National Flag of Venezuela bears, one will be added, as an emblem of the Province of Guayana, so that the number of the stars will be of eight from now on».
On October 4, 1821, this decree was repealed by means of a law passed by the Congress of Cúcuta. In 2006, 189 years later, Commander Hugo Chávez returned the eighth star that Bolívar once added to the National Standard.
Chávez proposed to the country: «That the eighth star be decreed in the National Flag, it is the star of Bolívar, the star of the Liberator». This represented the beginning of a campaign to explain the importance of adding the eighth star to the changes made to the National Shield.
This Monday, when is met the 200th anniversary of this act of recognition of the land of Guayana, the President of the Republic, Nicolás Maduro, joined to the celebration of the bicentennial of this date.
Read here the tweet published by President Nicolás Maduro on Twitter:
Nicolás Maduro
@NicolasMaduro
«Today we celebrate the Bicentennial of the inclusion of the eighth star in the National Flag by decree of the Liberator Simón Bolívar, in recognition of the brave land of Guayana as a cornerstone of the Sovereign Homeland #OctavaEstrellaBicentenaria https://youtu.be/VTyZcBZWHbg»
8:14 – Nov. 20 2017
