Top 5 Colombian Icons

You may remember a while ago on our humble Colombia Travel Blog that our beloved JL posted something about the potential for tourism in Colombia, and the need for an identifiable icon for Colombia. Well today we’re focusing on icons too, but in a completely different way. From dancing queens to the just plain mean, we’re taking a look at our Top 5 Colombian Icons of the human variety: characters that have shaped the way we look at Colombia, both for good and bad, and that have firmly imprinted themselves on modern culture. So here they are, in absolutely no order at all:

1. Shakira

Hailing from Barranquilla, Colombia, Shakira is one of the world’s most famous pop musicians. She’s worked with the likes of Beyonce, is married to is dating Barcelona FC superstar Gerard Pique and has more hit singles to her name than I’ve had arepas. She may not be flavor of the week all the time in Colombia and thanks to her blonde hair most people don’t even realise she’s Colombian, but, to be fair, but she wears her history on her sleeve (just check the lyrics to ‘Hips Don’t Lie’) and does a great deal to help her home country.

2. Juan Valdez

In terms of iconic it takes a lot to out-do the moustachioed coffee-worker that adorns the Juan Valdez coffee brand. The idea of Juan Valdez and his loveable mule, Conchita, is to distinguish pure Colombian coffee from rival sources. Perhaps now most famous for the chain of coffee stores in Colombia that carry the Juan Valdez title, the man has nonetheless had time to appear alongside Jim Carrey in ‘Bruce Almighty’.

3. Pablo Escobar

It may not please a lot of people, but there’s no question that Pablo Escobar is one of Colombia’s most defining icons. Now a figure of cult celebrity status in the Western world thanks to the popularity of gangster genres in film (the Escobar character appears in such films as ‘Blow’, starring Johnny Depp), Escobar left behind him a trail of devastation and atrocity but, despite this, remains a complicated figure. He worked hard to construct a ‘Robin Hood’ image, giving a great deal of money to local communities to build schools, hospitals and more. Nevertheless, the man once featured in the list of 100 Richest Men In The World remains a topic of intense bitterness for most Colombians.

4. Carlos ‘El Pibe’ Valderrama

In Colombia people often ask me what my impressions of Colombia were before I came here. My answer is a huge blonde afro and a masterful command of footballing technique. I refer, of course, to Carlos ‘El Pibe’ Valderrama, Colombia’s most famous footballer and the most instantly recognizable. Part of the famous ’94 team that demolished Argentina 5-0, Valderrama gained plaudits thanks to his slick passing game and has gone on to be considered one of the all-time greats in terms of passing technique. Not bad for a lad from Santa Marta.

5. Gabriel Garcia Marquez