The blue and white stripes come from the flag created by Manuel Belgrano, while the red was added as a symbol of the fight for federalism.

In 1810, as a result of the May Revolution, the Viceroyalty of Rio de la Plata declared independence, becoming the United Provinces of South America, but for some time continued to use the Spanish flag.

On 27 February 1812, Manuel Belgrano designed a flag for his soldiers with two blue stripes on the edges and a white stripe in the middle and proposed it as the flag of the United Provinces, however, due to the complicated situation, the Primera Junta officially fought on behalf of the Spanish King Ferdinand VII, who was in captivity to Napoleon.

The final design was not created directly by Artigas but by José María de Roo, a customs official from Montevideo and an expert in heraldry.

The republic came to an end a year later when, during the campaign in Santa Fe, Ramírez was betrayed by one of his commanders, Lucio Norberto Mansilla, and then killed after being captured by López's troops.

The Artigas flag remained one of the patriotic symbols in Uruguay, but it had no official status or any specific role until the 18 February 1952.

Apparently, the military governor of Montevideo, Fernando Otorgués, and the commander, Andrés Guacurarí, entering Misiones, used three horizontal stripes from the top of the colors red, blue and white.

José de Silva, who overthrew the pro-centralist government in Corrientes in December 1914, introduced the flag with horizontal stripes, which was used there until the end of the League's existence.

From 1930s to 1990s, warships of the Uruguayan Navy flew the Artigas flag as the naval jack, until being replaced by modified pre-1930s design in recent years.[when?]

The leftist urban guerrilla group Tupamaros, founded in the 1960s, uses an Artigas flag defaced with their emblem of a red or yellow star and the letter "T." Currently, the first Artigas flag is used by the far-left party COMUNA, which added its logo on the white stripe, and by Cabildo Abierto, which is considered a right-wing party.