The national flag of Uruguay (Pabellón Nacional) has a field of nine equal horizontal stripes alternating white and blue. The canton is white, charged with the Sun of May, from which 16 rays extend, alternating between triangular and wavy. The flag was first adopted by law on December 16, 1828 and had 17 stripes until July 11, 1830, when a new law reduced the number of stripes to nine. The flag was designed by Joaquín Suárez.