As every other human group, the mapuche people have a symbol that represents their communities – the Mapuche Flag or ‘Wenufoye’.

It was created on October 5, 1992, and the Chilean government recognized it as a mapuche symbol in the Indigenous Law of 1993. It was not until 2010 that the General Comptroller of the Republic gave the authorization to raise the Mapuche flag next to the Chilean one.

The mapuche flag has 5 parallel rectangles, and on top of the three inner colours, a kultxüg image is located.

The meanders or ‘gimiñ’, represent writing, science and knowledge. Their black and white crosses represent the balanced duality (like day and night).

The blue, or ‘kalfu’, stripe represents the purity of the universe or ‘wenumapu’; symbol of spirituality or the sacred.

The green, or ‘karü’, stripe represents nature and the land or ‘wallmapu”; it is the symbol of femininity..

The red, or ‘kelü’, stripe represents force and power, or ‘newenh’; it symbolizes memory.

The ‘kultxüg’ in the middle of the flag represents the mapuche world view and the four cardinal points, and among them, the sun, the moon and the stars – symbol of their world knowledge.

Next time you see the mapuche flag, you will understand its meaning!