Flag sizes in Brazil: panos, modules and the pole

In Brazil, the size of a flag is measured in panos. The word comes from Law 5,700 of 1 September 1971, which sets the official types of the national flag by their width, in panos of 45 centimetres, and describes the design in modules. The same law has a rule that is rare in flag laws: a relation between the width of the flag and the height of the pole. This guide brings these measurements together.

The seven official types

Under article 4, the fabric national flag for federal, state and municipal public offices, barracks and public and private schools is made in one of the normal types, one to seven panos of 45 centimetres wide. With a length of 20 modules for a width of 14 (article 5), the measurements are:

The sole paragraph of article 4 allows extraordinary types of larger, smaller or intermediate size, according to the conditions of use, keeping the proper proportions. In trade and public purchasing, half-pano sizes appear: the Federal University of Viçosa’s 2020 purchasing specification calls for flags of 2.5 panos, 1.13 × 1.61 metres, and of 6 panos, 2.70 × 3.86 metres; the guide of the manufacturer B&B Iluminação lists 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4 and 4.5 panos.

The design in modules

Article 5 sets the rules for making the flag from the desired width, divided into 14 equal parts, each called a module (M):

• the length is 20 modules;
• the corners of the yellow rhombus are 1.7 M from the outer edge;
• the blue circle has a radius of 3.5 M, a diameter equal to half the width;
• the white band is half a module wide, with arcs of radius 8 M and 8.5 M;
• the letters of ORDEM and PROGRESSO are a third of a module high, in green, and the letter P stands on the vertical diameter of the circle;
• the stars come in five magnitudes, drawn within circles of 0.30 M, 0.25 M, 0.20 M, 0.14 M and 0.10 M in diameter.

The modular drawing is in Annex No. 2, updated by Law 8,421 of 1992. On a 2-pano flag, the module measures about 6.4 centimetres and the blue circle is 45 centimetres in diameter.

The flag and the pole

Under article 21, at public offices and military units, when the flag is raised on a pole in the ground, its width is no more than one fifth and no less than one seventh of the height of the pole. The rule applies to public bodies, but it also gives an official reference for other poles. Some examples:

The flag-to-pole guide of the manufacturer B&B Iluminação, for poles of 6 to 12 metres, reaches similar values: it gives an ideal height of 7 metres for the 2.5-pano flag, 8 metres for 3 panos, 9 metres for 3.5 panos, 11 metres for 4 panos and 12 metres for 4.5 panos. The flag size calculator does this calculation for any height from 3 to 20 metres.

Indoor and hand flags

In rooms, offices and auditoriums, the flag may stand in panóplias or on short poles. The rule in article 21 does not apply to these stands, because it concerns poles in the ground. The guide to flag types presents these uses, and the guide to flagpole heights the factors that weigh in choosing an outdoor pole.