<Tr> <Td> Third National Flag 1822--1830 </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> Ecuador was subsumed into Gran Colombia, during which time the Colombian horizontal tricolour became definitive . Although Ecuador seceded from that union in 1830, the flag was retained until 1845 . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Fourth National Flag 1830--1835 </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> Provisional flag of the State of Ecuador, decreed on 19 November 1830 . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Fifth National Flag 1835--1845 </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> First flag used officially by Ecuador after its separation from Gran Colombia . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Sixth National Flag 1845 </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> During the 1845 Marcist Revolution the pale blue and white colours return, but as a vertical tricolour of white, blue, white, with three white stars in the central stripe . </Td> </Tr>

What does the symbol mean on the ecuador flag