What does the spanish flag mean: flag of Spain | Britannica
The Spanish Flag – Flag of Spain
The Spanish flag has three horizontal bands of red, yellow, and red, with the national coat of arms on the hoist side of the yellow band.
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Spanish Culture
Spanish History
The Flag of Spain
The Spanish flag has undergone various changes over its history. The red and yellow flag we know today, often referred to in Spanish as the rojigualda, was originally designed after the flag of the Spanish merchant and war marines during the reign of Charles III (1785), although it wasn’t until 1843, under the reign of Isabella II, that it became the nation’s sole flag.
Until that point, the various regiments used different flags and insignias.
The colors of today’s Spanish flag come from the design that Charles III asked his navy minister, Frey Antonio Valdés, to come up with 1785. The goal was to create a flag that could be easily distinguished from others, especially on the high seas, because in that era many countries used insignias on a white background, making it easy to confuse different flags at long distances.
The first flag to represent all of Spain was the Cross of Burgundy, which reached Spain with the marriage of Philip the Fair and Joanna of Castile (perhaps better known as Juana la Loca or Joanna the Mad) in 1508. This flag, featuring Saint Andrew’s Cross on a white background, was used until 1793 and remained the flag of the Spanish Empire until 1898. This flag was also used by the Carlist movement in 1935 and during the entire Spanish Civil War (1936-1939).
The red and yellow flag survived all the political changes of the 19th century, a tumultuous time for Spain, including an effort to substitute it with another tricolor flag (in this case, red, white, and blue) during the First Spanish Republic (1873-1874).
After the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed on April 14, 1978, the flag’s second red band was replaced with a purple band to represent the historic flag of the Comuneros of Castile. This tricolor flag was the official Republican flag during the Civil War.
Franco’s army, on the other hand, used the yellow and red flag throughout the conflict and added the Eagle of Saint John after winning the war. The eagle underwent two small changes during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco (1939-1975) and remained on the flag during the first years of the transition to democracy.
The new Spanish flag was promulgated by the Constitution of 1978. It has three horizontal bands of red, yellow, and red. The middle yellow band is twice as wide as the red bands and contains the national coat of arms. This new coat of arms was approved by law in 1981 and includes the royal seal flanked by two crowned pillars (the Pillars of Hercules) with the inscription Plus Ultra.
According to Spanish legislation, the height of the coat of arms should measure two-fifths the width of the flag and should appear in the middle of the yellow band. The flag’s usual proportions are a length measuring three halves its width, in which case the distance from the hoist of the emblem’s vertical axis should be half the flag’s width. In other instances (should the flag be either shorter in length or square) the coat of arms should appear in the center.
Flag of Spain – EnchantedLearning.com
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The Spanish flag is a red and yellow horizontal triband (the yellow stripe is in the middle, and is twice as tall as each red band). A simplified version of Spain’s coat of arms is pictured on the yellow band, towards the hoist side. The height of this flag is two-thirds the width. Spain’s flag was officially adopted on December 19, 1981.
The Spanish coat of arms depicts two crown-topped pillars of Hercules (with red banners displaying the motto in Latin, “PLUS ULTRA,” meaning “More Beyond,” alluding to Columbus’ discovery of the New World).
The two columns flank a shield that displays a castle, a lion wearing a crown, red and yellow vertical stripes, chain mail, and three fleurs-de-lis in an oval in the center. An ornate red and golden crown sits atop the shield.
The Spanish pledge to the flag is called the Jura de Bandera (meaning “oath of the flag”).
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Flag of Spain – colors, origin, what it means
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Description and historical background regarding the adoption of the current version of the Spanish flag.
The modern flag of Spain is a horizontal two-color with a golden yellow wide stripe in the center, and two blood-red horizontal lines bordering it. The width of each red section is strictly 2.25 times narrower than the central yellow field, and the aspect ratio of the panel is 5:3. nine0005
In the middle of the yellow field, with a shift to the left, the current coat of arms of the country is depicted. This current version of the arrangement of colors on the flag was approved by a Special Royal Decree of December 6, 1978.
On December 19, 1981, after the final investigation of the failed state coup three weeks earlier, in honor of the monarchy that had resisted the onslaught of the rebels, the then king Juan Carlos was the first to order the coat of arms of the ruling dynasty of the Spanish Bourbons to be added to the national flag and fixed as the state flag. nine0005
Origins of heraldic colors
Yellow-red colors in Spanish heraldry are by no means accidental.
It symbolizes the victory of the Christian chivalry (Reconquista) over the Mauritanian Caliphate, and in various interpretations has been official for all Christian states of the Iberian Region, since the last Muslim ruler was expelled from the peninsula in 1492.
According to legend, such a palette is designed to capture the historical moment when, after the final defeat of the Moors, the king of Aragon, Gottfried Berenger (Sword-bearer), ran a bloodied hand over the surface of his golden shield. nine0005
Spanish flag in the first half of the 20th century.
The current version of the Spanish flag is the most “official” for the country, since it existed unchanged from 1843 to 1931, when it was temporarily (until the date of its current return) replaced by the version of the Second Spanish Republic 1931-1939.
This flag was a horizontal tricolor with (from top to bottom) red, gold and purple stripes, which symbolized the ideals of the revolution, the beautiful present life and the prosperous future of the Spanish people, respectively.
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The history of the Spanish coat of arms
After the establishment of the final dictatorship of the Franco regime in 1939, the traditional red and yellow colors returned, but instead of the current royal coat of arms, there was a stylized black eagle facing west, with two columns in its paws, on which was the inscription: “Strength in unity”, and a shield with the coats of arms of various Spanish-speaking kingdoms on the torso. At his feet were a bow and arrows tied with barbed wire, which symbolized the regime’s determination to resist a possible overthrow by all means of force. nine0005
Unlike the eagle, the modern Spanish coat of arms is much less militant and more organic to local heraldic traditions. On his shield are the banners of the kingdoms (from left to right): Aragon, Castile, Navarre and Leon. They symbolize the historical past of Spain, which united all these lands. On the side columns there are ribbons with the inscription: “Even higher”, which reflects the aspiration to the future for the Spanish people, the crown symbolizes the power of the monarchy, and the lily at the base is the generic sign of the Angevin branch, from where the Spanish Bourbons came from.
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Flag of Spain – the pride of the nation | Spain
The flag of Spain is the pride of the nation
The flag is an integral part of any country, it reflects the history and traditions of the state, as well as the character of the whole people. Spain, as a country with an ancient culture, is very sensitive to this symbolism. The flag is the national pride of the inhabitants of the kingdom. nine0073 The Spanish flag is very bright and elegant, its unofficial name is rojigualda (rojigualda), which means “red-yellow”. The symbol of Spain is a yellow cloth, with red stripes above and below, while the yellow stripe is wider (2 times) than the red ones. On the left side of the yellow strip, at a distance of 1/3 from the pole edge, there is the coat of arms of Spain, crowned with a crown – a sign that the state is a monarchy.
Historically, yellow and red were the medieval heraldic colors of Aragon and Castile. Despite the fact that the coat of arms of Spain changed over time, the colors of the cloth remained the same. nine0073 In modern Spain, the national flag with coat of arms is used mainly for officials of the royal court. In wide use, for everyday use, a simplified version of the flag without a coat of arms is used.
What do the colors of the Spanish flag mean?
According to legend, after the end of the Reconquista (the reconquest of Christian lands from the Moors), the king of Aragon Gottfried Berenger wanted to have his banner. Considering its various options, he fixed his gaze on one of them – with a smooth golden field. nine0005
Flag of Spain
He ordered the servants to give him a goblet of fresh animal blood and, dipping two fingers into it, ran them over the yellow cloth, which turned out to be two red stripes. Although there is a more cruel version of the creation of the Spanish flag: the king of Aragon dipped his fingers into the wound of the Moorish king and ran two stripes of his blood over the golden banner of the Vatican, thus symbolizing that from now on only the Roman Catholic faith will dominate his lands.
True, the stripes on this canvas were not horizontal, but vertical. nine0073 In 1415, when King Alphonse of Aragon married Princess Mary of Castile, the coat of arms and the royal standard of Aragon were taken as a symbol of the resulting empire – red and yellow equal stripes.
Flag of Spain
In the modern interpretation, the flag of Spain has existed since 1785, when King Carlos III of Bourbon ordered Spanish warships to use signs that could distinguish them from ships of other states. But the white naval standard of Spain, adorned with the coat of arms of the House of Bourbon, could easily be confused with the standards of the courts of other countries. Since then, red and yellow colors have become associated with Spain. In addition, the king decided to insert his coat of arms on the cloth as well. Therefore, so that the stripes do not cross it out, he reduced the number of red stripes and made them thinner, since it was on a yellow background that the royal coat of arms looked most impressive.