March 12, 2006
President Chávez unveils new flag

(Bloomberg) - "Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez unfurled a new national flag and coat of arms today that he says will honor local indigenous people and the easternmost region of the country.

Chávez added an eighth star to the red, yellow and blue flag to represent the country's Guayana region, as he said Simón Bolívar, the country's independence leader, had wanted it. Upon taking office seven years ago, Chávez also changed the name of the country, adding the word 'Bolivarian' to it to honor Bolivar.

'Now we will able to have a free, honorable and great country', Chávez, 51, said at an early morning service at the Pantheon, a former Catholic church in Caracas that now holds the remains of famous Venezuelans including those of Bolivar. Chávez unveiled the new flag on the 200th anniversary of Flag Day in Venezuela, the world's fifth-largest oil exporter (...)

The government has five years to phase in the new flag and symbols, which will appear on all government documents (...)".