The flag of Quito constitutes one of the three civic symbols of the city and of the Quito canton. It is made up of a horizontal rectangle that is divided into three vertical stripes of equal width, of which the inside four are pantone red 185c and the two outside are blue reflex pantone 281c. Article 1 of the Metropolitan Ordinance that regulates this symbol recommends that the flags be 2.40 meters by 1.60 meters, which makes a ratio of 3 by 2. In the center is the shield of the city, which consists of a A silver castle fortified by three towers, as a symbol of the city's strength, nobility and loyalty. At the upper end of the flagpole hangs the golden cord of San Francisco. This flag was defined on May 17, 1944 in the Municipal Council, and later it would be confirmed in article 1 of the municipal law known as Municipal Ordinance No. 1634, approved in 1974, when Sixto Durán Ballén, was mayor of Quito .
