Flag of Spain

Flag ratio: 2:3

Flag of Spain

The government flag of Spain in its current form was adopted on December 19, 1981, when the coat of arms was last changed.

The flag officially defined as the national flag, according to the Spanish Constitution, is the plain 'civil' variant without the coat of arms. The coat of arms technically denotes government (royal) usage, but is the most commonly used version.

The government flag is similar to those used between 1785 and 1931 (as the War Ensign until 1843 when the War Ensign became a national flag).

History

The closest variant of the current flag of Spain can be traced back to 1785 Naval Jack, Bandera de Proa o de Tajamar or Torrotito under Carlos III of Spain. The kingdom, by then under the house of Bourbon, sought a flag that would distinguish itself from the Bourbon royal banners from the two other principal Bourbon kingdoms, France and the Two Sicilies.

Allegedly, there was a contest to design the new flag of Spain. Ultimately, the flag that was chosen as war ensign is the direct ancestor of the current flag. It was a triband red-yellow-red, of which the yellow band was twice the width of the red bands, a unique feature that distinguished the Spanish tribanded flag from other tribanded European flags. The flag chosen as civil ensign, meanwhile, consisted of five stripes of yellow-red-yellow-red-yellow, in proportions 1:1:2:1:1.

The origin of the colors is a source of controversy. One of the popular theories is that this scheme is based on the heraldic schemes of the monarchs of Crown of Aragon. Others claim it was Naples flag adopted by Carlos III.

Throughout the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, this color scheme remained largely intact. The main changes to the flag centered on the coat of arms. In the modern flag, the coat of arms are greatly simplified as compared to previous variants. Each of the four quadrants represent one of the four kingdoms that were merged to form a unified Spain at the end of the 15th century. Namely, the kingdoms are: Castile, represented by the castle, León, represented by the lion, Aragon, represented by the vertical alternating red and yellow stripes (four red stripes, five yellow stripes), and Navarre, represented by the linked chains. Also the moorish kingdom of Granada is represented by the pomegranate fruit in the bottom of the coat of arms. The two columns with the "plus ultra" ensign (meaning "further" in Latin) represent Spanish discovery and colonization of America, the columns being the mythological Pillars of Hercules (of the Strait of Gibraltar, gateway to the Atlantic Ocean). The "Plus Ultra" phrase replaced the former "Non Plus Ultra" (something like "No further from here") before the discovery of America, since Spain was considered "the Westernmost point" on Earth (thus, "no further from here".)

The purple band on the flag of the Second Spanish Republic is due to the flag of Castile having a purpure variant as well as a red one. The royalist flag used red-yellow-red (the red-yellow for Aragon and the red for Castile), while the republican one used red-yellow for Aragon and purple for the flag of the Castilian Comunero rebels during the Castilian War of the Communities.

Merchant marine's flag (1785—1927)	War ensign (1785–1843). National Flag (1843—1873 and 1874—1931)	Flag of the First Spanish Republic (1873—1874)	Flag of the Second Spanish Republic (1931—1939)
Flag of the Spanish State (Spain under Franco's Rule) (1939—1977)	Civil ensign of Spain without coat of arms (1977—1981)?	Naval Jack

Specifications

The colours of the flag are:

Source: Colours of the National Flag (Spain) at Flags of the World citing Boletín Oficial del Estado. Accessed 21 February 2006.

The colours previously defined in the constitution were amarillo (yellow) and roja (red). Before 1978, the centre band had always been defined in law by the more exact terms amarillo gualda (weld-coloured).The substitution of the archaic term gualda was prompted by the writer and royal senator Camilo José Cela.

This term was brought back in the 1981 legal definition as the descriptions for the technically defined colours.

Spanish flag law

• Constitution of Spain 1978, defining the national flag.

• Act 39/1981, regulating the use of the flag.

• Royal Decree 441/1981, establishing the detailed technical specifications of the colours of the flag.

See also

• Flag of Catalonia
• The 1920 flag of New Mexico is red and yellow in a reference to their Spanish past.

External links

• Spain at Flags of the World
• Flags of Spain (in Spanish)
• Presidency of the Government - The Banner
• Presidency of the Government - The coat of arms.
• Spanish Authorities's Flags (in Spanish)
• History of the flag of Spain (in Spanish)

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