Tacuarembó Department (Uruguay)

Departamento de Tacuarembó

Last modified: 2025-12-06 by rob raeside
Keywords: tacuarembó |
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• Presentation
• Unofficial Flag
• Flag used in Congress of Intendents
• Failed proposal
  • Wrong flag
  • Proposal on Facebook
• Coat of arms

• Municipalities of Maldonado
• Uruguay
• Departments of Uruguay

• Maldonado Government official website
  reported by Ivan Sache, 22 May 2017

Tacuarembó is one of 2 departments that does not have a real flag, the other being Montevideo. Through Decree 016 of 8 May 1987, a jury for a flag was designated but ended up being declared abandoned the following year. Under the same Decree in 2000, a proposal was held which was not adopted due to political dispute; as of today, there is no departmental flag.

Daniel Rentería, 11 November 2025

Mostly used in previous years, this unofficial flag depicts a white field reading Intendencia Departamental de (in black, above); and TACUAREMBÓ in purple, blue, green, yellow, and pink colors (below). In the very center, the coat of arms of the department is found, with curved blue text reading EL PAGO MAS GRANDE DE LA PATRIA underneath (The Biggest Countryland of the Fatherland).

Photo of flag in use from https://www.uy.emb-japan.go.jp

Daniel Rentería, 11 November 2025

image by Daniel Rentería, 11 November 2025
based on photo from https://www.instagram.com

This variant used in the Congress of Intendents is white with the coat of arms centered upon it, it appears.

Daniel Rentería, 11 November 2025

Failed proposal

In a sense, the proposal succeeded in the fact it was chosen by a popular vote. The flag was first hoisted on 19 June 2000 at the intersection of the Pablo Rios road and railway. It was created through a contest, of which the creator Andrés Bascou earned 2000 USD as the winning prize; previously being chosen on 6 May. The flag itself was not adopted due to political dispute between the Intendent and his successor. The flag is divided blue-white-green horizontally, with the blue and green stripes taking roughly 1/4 of the white stripe's height. At the top and bottom of the stripe, there are 8 pieces of a sugarcane on each one. In the center, a golden sun is depicted. The sugarcane recognizes the departmental name, meaning river of sugarcane fields. Green is representative of the land; the Sun of May is found in the center for patriotism; and blue of the sky and water.

Daniel Rentería, 11 November 2025

This is an incorrect flag. It depicts a red field with a white diagonal band going from the top-left to the bottom-right. In the center is the departmental coat of arms. It really is only found on MercadoLibre, not used by the government at all. In my opinion, it definitely seems like the image intentionally takes the colors of the local Football Club (red and white).
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki

Daniel Rentería, 11 November 2025

Coat of arms

image by Daniel Rentería, 11 November 2025
from https://commons.wikimedia.org

The coat of arms was designed by Carlos Vilson López and approved by the Departmental Junta on 29 December 1960 through Act N°78. The motto, El pago más grande de la Patria [The biggest countryland of the Fatherland] was apparently adopted in 1991 to be used with it. The shield has a blue field for the sky, having in the background the Cerro Batoví hill as the most prominent landform in the department. At the top part, a white rectangle reads TACUAREMBO in black; above the ribbon is the Sun of May honoring the nation and independence in orange, yellow, and white details.

The shield, not including its top part, is divided into three triangles by a V shape for victory created by sugarcane remembering its name, which means river of sugarcane fields. The left triangle depicts a field with a hand holding dirt from which wheat emerges, showing the product of hard work and principal employment source in the land.

The right triangle depicts the Rincón del Bonete hydroelectric dam, a major source of electric energy in the region recognizing its border with the Negro River. The central triangle depicts (left) a sheep and (right) a cow for ranching, another principal source of employment; the bottom part of the triangle depicts a torch for effort and progress held by the residents. Just above the torch, the boundaries of Tacuarembó are seen.
Source: https://ia601500.us.archive.org/35/items/tacuarembo

Daniel Rentería, 11 November 2025