deliriouslove1970. The life & times of Gary and Denise Flanders. (Free and worth every penny. If you would like to compliment the editor, send to garytheflan@deliriouslove1970.com. If you would like to complain, call your mother.)

Bandera de Cusco – The Flag of the City of Cusco in Peru. “Cusco or Cuzco Latin American Spanish: [ˈkusko]; Quechua: Qosqoor Qusqu, both pronounced [ˈqosqɔ]) is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Sacred Valley of the Andes mountain range and the Huatanay river. It is the capital of the eponymous province and department. The city is the seventh most populous in Peru”

Cusco was “the capital of the Inca Empire until the 16th-century Spanish conquest. In 1983, Cusco was declared a World Heritage Siteby UNESCO with the title “City of Cusco“. It has become a major tourist destination, hosting over 2 million visitors a year and providing passage to numerous Incan ruins, such as Machu Picchu, one of the Seven modern wonders of the world and others. The Constitution of Peru (1993) designates the city as the Historical Capital of Peru.”

“The Kingdom of Cusco (sometimes spelled Cuzco and in QuechuaQosqo or Qusqu), also called the Cusco confederation, was a small kingdom based in the Andean city of Cusco that began as a small city-state founded by the Incas around the start of 13th century. In time, through warfare or peaceful assimilation, it began to grow into the Inca Empire (1438–1533).”

“The Wiphala (Quechua pronunciation:[wɪˈpʰala], Spanish: [(ɡ)wiˈpa.la]) is a square emblem commonly used as a flag to represent some native peoplesof the Andes that include today’s Bolivia, Peru, Chile, Ecuador, northwestern Argentina and southern Colombia.”

The color scheme was considered when the city of Cusco began to design an emblem, or flag, to represent the city. In the center of the new design is the Cusco Coat of Arms.

The top graphic is An early symbol of the Inca Empire that perhaps was at one time placed on a cloth which could be called a flag. At this point in history the name flag or bandera was not in common use. The bottom graphic was the flag of Cusco from 1821 to 1978.

The official flag of the Peruvian city of Cusco has seven horizontal stripes of color: red, orange, yellow, green, sky blue, blue, and violet. This rainbow flag was introduced to Peruin 1973 by Raúl Montesinos Espejo, in recognition of the 25th anniversary of his Tawantinsuyo Radio station. 

In 2021 the Coat of Arms was added in the center of the flag and it was officially adopted in 2021.

But, is the Cusco Flag the same as the LGBT flag? “Although a collective confusion can be generated by both flags, they are similar, but not the same. A main difference is the number of colors that each one has. The cusqueña has 7 and the one that represents the LGTB+ community has 6, without considering the light blue tone. The Tahuantinsuyo flag is an original design by the communicator Raúl Montesinos Espejo, while the gay community was represented by a creation by Gilbert Baker, an American activist and designer.”

“La bandera del Tahuantinsuyo es un símbolo ancestral que representa la diversidad cultural y la identidad de los pueblos originarios de los Andes. Con sus vibrantes colores y complejo diseño cuadriculado, la wiphala es una expresión visual de la rica historia y cosmovisión de las civilizaciones precolombinas de la región.”