La Wiphala: A Metaphor for Understanding
Language Diversity in Latin America
Chad Dorn
FIGURE 1. Photo of La Wiphala in Bolivia.
http://iise.pitt.edu/publications/ncontents/v9/n3/ise200913.pdf
International Studies in Education 9 (2008)
“High in the Andes Mountains of South America
waves a symbol of brotherhood, community and diversity.
The Wiphala is a seven-by-seven, multi-colored
checkerboard flag composed of the seven colors of a
rainbow each equally represented by seven squares
arranged in diagonal rows (Figure 1). Indigenous communities
and political activists alike brandish its colors
as a utopian vision of how the world should comport
itself and as a call to rise up over the elitist structure
that places a stranglehold on indigenous voices.”
“Inka Waskar Chukiwanka (2003), an indigenous
leader and Bolivian Congressman, explains that the
kurmi, or the refraction of white light into the equal but
different colors of the rainbow, provides the basic elements elements
for the composition of the Wiphala. Its origin is
located in the intersection of the male and female kurmis.
The junction of these two rainbows, or kumisi,
forms the seven-by-seven multi-colored checkerboard
of the Wiphala.
The Incas, and their descendants, consider the various
colors of the Wiphala to be not just an emblem of
who they are as a nation of nations, but also a guide for
action (p. 332). Chukiwanka points out that unlike other
flags the Wiphala is not a symbol of conquest, but instead
provides direction toward a productive life and
community. On the community level, it serves as representation
of the founding values of the ayllu: equality
and reciprocity. On the personal level, the Wiphala
prescribes that an individual, in addition to working and
studying hard, should acquaint himself with the community
and the world around him and pledge to combat
against the elitist structure that is constricting the underlying
principles of brotherhood, community and equality
(p. 333).”
