The national flag of Timor-Leste (bandeira nacional de Timor-Leste) consists of a red field with the black isosceles triangle based on the hoist-side bearing a white five-pointed star in the center superimposed on the larger yellow triangle, also based on the hoist-side, that extends to the center of the flag.

The Independence Day Celebrations Committee of the United Nations Transitional Administration for East Timor (UNTAET) indicated light orange (PMS 123) as the correct shade of yellow, which is usually found on official flags.

A clear uniform regulation was initially pending,[3] but Law 02/2007 on the national symbols shows a picture of a flag with a 1:2 ratio in the appendix.

However, in paragraph 2, the article explicitly allows smaller and larger flags, as well as those with sizes in between, as long as the proportions are respected.

The myth tells of the loss, search and recovery of a lost, sacred object, namely the Portuguese flag.

A white flag with the Portuguese Timorese coat of arms on a green and red cross appears in the crowd.

Later, the BLLT established a short-lived government-in-exile in Jakarta called the United Republic of Timor, which used the same flag.

However, civil war broke out in Portuguese Timor in August 1975 between the left-leaning Fretilin and the conservative Timorese Democratic Union (UDT).

Portugal's governor Mário Lemos Pires was forced to evacuate all Portuguese administrative and military personnel and their families to the island of Atauro off the coast of the capital Dili on August 26 and 27.

Pires was urged by them to return to Dili and press ahead with decolonization, but he insisted on waiting for instructions from Lisbon.

It was not until October that the Portuguese corvette Afonso Cerqueira reached Atauro, bringing Pires his first sign of support from Portugal.

Lopes da Cruz then moved to Jakarta and became special advisor on East Timor to Indonesia's dictator Suharto.

He regards the flag as a "relic" and keeps it in a small room of its own, together with Suharto's suitcase and a crucifix about one meter high, which Lopes da Cruz bought in Fátima in 1994.

Politically, Indonesia was supported by the United States and Australia, as they feared a second Cuba due to the leftist orientation of Fretilin.

[2] Until 1999, East Timor was governed by Indonesia as a province, while internationally it was considered a "dependent territory under Portuguese administration".

The flag of Timor Timur, as Timor-Leste was officially called at the time, displayed the provincial coat of arms on an orange background.

[13] The Conselho Nacional de Resistência Timorense (CNRT), the umbrella organisation of East Timorese resistance founded in 1998, adopted the Falintil flag as a politically neutral symbol.

The shield in the flag of the CNRT is also found in slightly modified form with the same elements in the later first coat of arms of Timor-Leste (2002-2006) after the restoration of independence.

Allegedly, this rule dates back to colonial times, when Timorese were beaten up if they walked through the shadow of the flag of Portugal.

According to the various local accounts, people were in tears for days and produced a special hand woven textile (Tais) in which to wrap the downed UN flag,[17] as if it was a death shroud, but also to protect it and to preserve its mystical ‘sacred’ power (luli).

[18] After independence, every village in the country received a copy of the new national flag, which was handed over to them in a solemn ceremony.

The opposition party Fretilin saw the renewed incident as a sign that the government was in trouble, and one of the country's biggest newspapers, the Timor Post, reported the event on its front page.

The group Colimau 2000 demanded that a Christian cross be included in the national flag to symbolise the importance of Catholicism in Timor-Leste.

They serve as advertising media at political events and were also depicted for illiterate people as an identifying sign on the ballot papers for the parliamentary elections on 30 June 2007.

The importance of party flags for supporters was made clear by three incidents that took place during the unrest following the 2007 general election.

[25] The Australian commander, Brigadier John Hutcheson, personally returned one of the flags and expressed regret over the incident.

Blue and white (as also found on the former flag of Portugal) are the traditional colours of Our Lady of the Conception (Nossa Senhora da Conceição).

It was green and white with eight stripes and showed the town's coat of arms in the centre: Red, a sandalwood tree in silver between two bundles of arrows with halberds and hunting spears.

In addition, a banner with the words "O Sol logo em nascendo vê primeiro" (Where the sun was first born).

[35] Since 2015, the municipalities have adopted logos and coats of arms as symbols, which are then also presented on flags with a single-colour background.