Editing Flag of Chile (section)

===Flag of the Transition (1817–1818)===
[[File:Flag of Chile (1817-1818).svg|thumb|{{FIAV|historical}} Flag of the Transition (1817–1818).]] The victory at the Battle of Chacabuco on 26 May 1817 gave way to a new period known as the ''[[Patria Nueva]]'' (''New Fatherland''). A new flag was adopted that day, known today as the Flag of the Transition (''Bandera de la Transición''), and it is recognized as the first national flag and the last flag used until the one used currently. It was widely publicized at the time that the design was attributed to [[Juan Gregorio de Las Heras]]. This flag had three equal stripes: blue, white, and red, which is identical to the [[Flag_of_Yugoslavia#Kingdom_of_Yugoslavia|flag of pre-communist]] [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]] (the [[flag of Serbia and Montenegro]] later). The bottom red strip replaced the yellow from the flag of 1812. The origin of the flag's colors would be based on the description given by [[Alonso de Ercilla]] as those of the insignia of the Mapuche troops. The significances of these colors were equivalent to those of the ''Patria Vieja'', except that the yellow replaced the red to represent the blood that had been shed during the many conflicts.

Despite initial enthusiasm, the flag did not obtain official legalization and disappeared five months later. One reason for its suppression was that it was easily confused with both the [[Flag of the Kingdom of the Netherlands|flag of the Netherlands]] and the [[Flag of France|tricolor of revolutionary France]], from which it was inspired.

According to the ''General History of Chile'' by [[Diego Barros Arana]], the last time the Flag of the Transition was unfurled was at the ceremony to commemorate the [[Battle of Rancagua]], two weeks before the adoption of the current national flag. However, there is information about a possible third flag between the Transitional and final, which would have exchanged the order of white and blue stripes and incorporated the five-pointed white star on the central strip, but that is no certainty, and it is not accepted by the majority of Chilean historians.