The national flag of Uruguay (bandera nacional de Uruguay), officially known as the National Pavilion (Pabellón Nacional), is the most important of the three official flags of Uruguay along with the Artigas flag and the flag of the Treinta y Tres. It has a field of nine equal horizontal stripes alternating white and blue. == Symbolism and design == The horizontal stripes on the flag represent the nine original departments of Uruguay, based on the U.S. flag, where the stripes represent the original 13 colonies. These stripes of blue and white were inspired by the flag of Argentina, making the flag of Uruguay part of both the Stars and Stripes and Belgrano flag families.