20th July – Independence Day Colombia

We wrote this blog to show how much we love our country! We love you Colombia and we want to take our country pride to all the nations of the world!

Our blog today is a little different, we want to tell some very important historical events for Colombia’s independence! We hope you like it and travel with us through these historical facts!

Before the arrival of the Spaniards in the Americas, a region where Colombia is today, was inhabited by several indigenous tribes that emerged at a good level of development, like the Muiscas and the Tayronas. The first Spaniards to set foot on Colombian land were Alonso de Ojeda and João da Cosa in 1499. Later, several expeditions passed through the coastal region, until, in 1525, the first city in Colombia was founded: Santa Maria de la antigua del Darién. Cartagena was founded eight years later, in 1533. In 1538, Gonzalo Jiménez de Ojeda, after defeating several Muiscas indigenous group on the plateau, founded the city of Santa Fé de Bogotá, and gave a name to the country that was being formed: New Granada. 

Until 1717, the region of what was then New Granada was dependent on the administration of Lima, Peru. From that year, Bogotá became the capital of a new viceroyalty, the viceroyalty of New Granada, which aggregated the territories corresponding to the current Panama, Ecuador, Venezuela and Colombia.

In 1780, in the (Colombia), one of the strongest demonstrations against metropolitan policies took place, the Movement was provoked by the imposition of new annual tax payments. Approximately 30,000 people gathered in the city of Socorro (located in Santander), with the motto “Long live the king and down the bad government”. This motto demonstrates that the colonial elite directed opposition movements only in the way the Crown was governing, but not opposed to the Monarchy itself.

July 20 is Colombia’s national date and commemorates the beginning of the independence process of the Spanish empire, a process that lasted 9 years and of which two dates are main: July 20, 1810, when the first cry for independence occurred. in Santa Fe (today Bogotá) and on August 7, 1819, when the Battle of Boyacá took place, which was definitive in the victory of the independence activists.

From 1830, with the death of Simón Bolívar, Ecuador and Venezuela became independent. Panama’s independence took place in 1903.

We learned a lot from our history, from the struggle to become an independent country, more like Colombians, we fill with pride for our heritages and roots! We are very proud of our flag! From its representation, in which yellow represents gold and the other natural resources of the country, these riches have a great weight in the symbolic representation, since they stripe takes up a half of the flag. The blue symbolizes the waters of the sea that bathe the Colombian nation. Colombia has a maritime coastline for both the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean, which gives it strategic importance in the region. Finally, red symbolizes the blood of Colombians who fought to save their country from Spanish rule and make it independent.

Viva Colombia!  Today our tribute and pride to all who were responsible for our independence!