Flag of the Second Spanish Republic

Last updated
Second Spanish Republic
Flag of Spain (1931-1939).svg
Tricolor
Use FIAV 110010.svg FIAV historical.svg
Proportion3:5
Adopted27 April 1931
Bandera de la marina mercante (Civil Ensign)
Flag of the Second Spanish Republic (plain).svg
Use FIAV 000100.svg FIAV historical.svg
Proportion3:5
Bandera militar (Military Flag)
Flag of the Second Spanish Republic (military).svg
Use FIAV 001001.svg FIAV historical.svg
Proportion2:3

The flag of the Second Spanish Republic , known in Spanish as la tricolor (the tricolour), [1] was the official flag of Spain between 1931 and 1939 and the flag of the Spanish Republican government in exile until 1977. Its present-day use in Spain is associated with the modern republican movement, different trade unions and various left-wing political movements.

Contents

History

In the municipal elections of April 12, 1931, the Republicans won the number of votes in the large cities. The situation became increasingly chaotic: the Republic was proclaimed in several cities and the tricolor flag was waving in their town halls. The Spanish republican flag began to be used on April 27, 1931, thirteen days after municipal elections results led to the abolition of the monarchy and the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic.

This same flag had been previously displayed by certain Republican groups as an alternative to the red-and-yellow flag that they identified with the Bourbon monarchy in Spain. As a result of this previous use, the young republic proclaimed in 1931 eagerly adopted this symbol. [2]

While the events were taking place, a part of the people raised the new flag in the main squares of some large Spanish cities. Éibar, in Guipúzcoa, was the first town to hoist this banner from its Town Hall, on the 13th. Later, important cities, such as Madrid or Barcelona, followed with massive demonstrations.

The Republican flag was adopted on April 27 and presented to the army of the nation on May 6 with the following words: [3] "The national uprising against tyranny, victorious since April 14, has hoisted a flag that is invested by means of the feelings of the people with the double representation of the hope of freedom and of its irreversible triumph."

El alzamiento nacional contra la tiranía, victorioso desde el 14 de abril, ha enarbolado una enseña investida por el sentir del pueblo con la doble representación de una esperanza de libertad y de su triunfo irrevocable.

The Republican flag was formed by three horizontal bands of the same width, red, yellow, and dark purple. The National Flag would have the Spanish Republican coat of arms at the centre (quarterly of Castile, Leon, Aragon and Navarre, enté en point for Granada, ensigned by a mural crown, between the two Pillars of Hercules). This coat of arms originated in 1868 and had been used then by the Provisional Government and later by the First Spanish Republic. The civil ensign or merchant flag would be a simple tricolour without the coat of arms.

The term "la tricolor" to refer to the flag is reminiscent of the French tricolor which, since the French Revolution of the late 18th Century, has made a flag composed of three equal strips into the symbol of a Republic. However, having horizontal strips rather than vertical ones, as in the French flag, made it possible to preserve many elements of the previous Spanish flag, used during centuries of Monarchial rule.

During the Civil War there was also a military version of the flag with proportion 2:3 and without the coat of arms used by Republican Army units in different locations. Despite not displaying the arms, this plain flag did not correspond to the civil ensign approved in 1931 for the use of merchant ships. [4] The International Brigades added a three-pointed red star to the yellow band of the military Republican flag. [5]

The simplified military flag of the Second Spanish Republic was also used by the Spanish Maquis between the end of the Spanish Civil War and the early 1960s, and later by the Spanish National Liberation Front (FELN). Versions of this flag were used in the 1970s by the radical anti-Francoist groups Revolutionary Antifascist Patriotic Front (FRAP) and First of October Anti-Fascist Resistance Groups (GRAPO).

The Republican flag is now widely used by trade unions [6] and left-wing political organizations, such as United Left, [7] the Marxist-Leninist Party (RC) and some factions of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party. It is also used by republican platforms. [8] [9]

Colours

Arms of the Kingdom of Leon Leon Arms.svg
Arms of the Kingdom of León
Pendon Morado, also later used and denominated as the "Flag of the Comuneros" Flag of Castile (purple).svg
Pendón Morado, also later used and denominated as the "Flag of the Comuneros"

The Spanish Republican Flag has three colours: red, yellow, and dark purple. [10]

The third colour, dark purple (Spanish: morado oscuro), represents Castile and León by recalling the Pendón Morado, the ancient armorial banner of Castile. The colours of red and yellow symbolise the territories of the former Crown of Aragon. [11] These three colours symbolised a new era for Spain in which no part thereof was excluded and all Spaniards were represented. [2]

The flag that the Second Republic adopted as its own was the same that numerous republican groups had been using as an alternative to the rojigualda ensign, which they identified with the Bourbon monarchy in Spain. Due to this previous use, in April 1931 copies of the flag proliferated, which was adopted in a sudden way by the new provisional government. In addition to symbolizing the radical change in the government system, the inclusion of the third colour sought recognition of the people of Castilla as a vital part of a new state, under the assumption that the colours red and yellow represented the peoples of the old Crown of Aragon, and believing -erroneously- that the flag of Castile had been purple.

Morado

Morado, which is a generic word denoting the colour purple or violet, was previously a familiar colour in Spain because it is one of the Catholic liturgical colours that is displayed on vestments, altar cloths, and other ecclesiastical textile furnishings to signify certain seasons of the Catholic liturgical year, and, being a historically Catholic nation, this colour had annual and public use throughout Spain. Also, it was used during the Middle Ages as the heraldic colour of the Kingdom of Castile. The coat of arms of the Kingdom of León bore a purple lion rampant and the flag reputed to have been used in the Revolt of the Comuneros displayed a yellow castle on a purple background. Morado, however, was and is prone to variations in hue and fading from time and use, which often resulted in "morado" denoting a range of hues of purple, which presently are considered distinct colours/hues, e. g. crimson or maroon. Because it is rarely present on flags, in practice the morado of the lowest band of the Flag was coloured violet, purple (purpure), or even lilac, contingent on available materials and dyes. [12]

In the decree of April 27, 1931 that imposes it, signed by the self-proclaimed and provisional Government of the Republic, the inclusion of the new strip is reasoned as follows:

"Today the flag adopted as national in the mid-19th century is folded. The two colors of it are preserved and a third is added, which tradition admits as the insignia of an illustrious region, the nerve of nationality, with which the emblem of the Republic, thus formed, more aptly summarizes the harmony of a great Spain. [...]"

Controversies

Spanish monarchists resented the morado of the new tricolored flag and a famous soleá was composed when the Flag began to be used. These verses also indirectly expressed dissatisfaction for the reforms of the new republican government: [13]

Modern historians, such as Margarita Márquez Padorno or Mirta Núñez Díaz-Balart, suggest that despite popular belief, the Castilian Pendón Morado never existed or that it was actually red, and the morado colour was merely for aesthetic reasons or due to a lack of historical knowledge. [14]

Until 2001, [15] the official badge of the Real Madrid C.F. had a purple band based either on the Castilian or Spanish republican colours which was added after the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic in 1931. [16] [17] The colour of the band was changed from morado to navy blue in 2001. [15]

Depictions, derivatives and variants

Civil use

Military use

Present-day use

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flag of Bolivia</span> National flag

The flag of Bolivia is the national flag of the Plurinational State of Bolivia. It was originally adopted in 1851. The state and war flag is a horizontal tricolor of red, yellow and green with the Bolivian coat of arms in the center. According to one source, the red stands for Bolivia's brave soldiers, while the green symbolizes fertility and yellow the nation's mineral deposits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flag of Portugal</span> National flag

The flag of Portugal is the national flag of the Portuguese Republic. It is a rectangular bicolour with a field divided into green on the hoist, and red on the fly. The lesser version of the national coat of arms of Portugal is centered over the colour boundary at equal distance from the upper and lower edges. Its presentation was done on 1 December 1910, after the downfall of the constitutional monarchy on 5 October 1910. However, it was only on 30 June 1911, that the official decree approving this flag as the official flag was published. This new national flag for the First Portuguese Republic, was selected by a special commission whose members included Columbano Bordalo Pinheiro, João Chagas and Abel Botelho. The conjugation of the new field color, especially the use of green, was not traditional in the Portuguese national flag's composition and represented a radical republican-inspired change that broke the bond with the former monarchical flag. Since a failed republican insurrection on 31 January 1891, red and green had been established as the colours of the Portuguese Republican Party and its associated movements, whose political prominence kept growing until it reached a culmination period following the Republican revolution of 5 October 1910. In the ensuing decades, these colours were popularly propagandised, green represented the hope of the nation and the colour red represented the blood of those who died defending it, this happened to endow them with a more patriotic and dignified, therefore less political, sentiment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flag of Colombia</span> National flag

The national flag of Colombia symbolizes that Colombia gained its independence from Spain on 20 July 1810. It is a horizontal tricolor of yellow, blue and red. The yellow stripe takes up a half of the flag and the blue and red take up a quarter of the space each.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flag of Ecuador</span> National flag

The national flag of Ecuador, which consists of horizontal bands of yellow, blue and red, was first adopted by law in 1835 and later on 26 September 1860. The design of the current flag was finalized in 1900 with the addition of the coat of arms in the center of the flag. Before using the yellow, blue and red tricolor, Ecuador's former flag had three light blue stripes and two white stripes with three white stars for each province of the country. The design of the flag is very similar to those of Colombia and Venezuela, which are also former constituent territories of Gran Colombia. All three are based on a proposal by Venezuelan General Francisco de Miranda, which was adopted by Venezuela in 1811 and later Gran Colombia with some modifications. There is a variant of the flag that does not contain the coat of arms that is used by the merchant marine. This flag matches Colombia's in every aspect, but Colombia uses a different design when her merchant marine ships are at sail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flag of Paraguay</span> National flag

The flag of Paraguay was first adopted in 1842. Its design, a red–white–blue triband, was inspired by the colours of the French Tricolour, believed to signify independence and liberty. The flag is unusual because it differs on its obverse and reverse sides: the obverse of the flag shows the national coat of arms, and the reverse shows the seal of the treasury. It is the only national flag worldwide that has a unique design on each side. The flag consists of the same three horizontal colours as the flag of the Netherlands, which in turn was the inspiration for the French flag. It was revised in 2013 to bring the flag towards its original design. It has a ratio of 11:20.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flag of Peru</span> National flag

The flag of Peru was adopted by the government of Peru in 1825, and modified in 1950. According to the article 49 of the Constitution of Peru, it is a vertical triband with red outer bands and a single white middle band. Depending on its use, it may be defaced with different emblems, and has different names. Flag day in Peru is celebrated on 7 June, the anniversary of the Battle of Arica.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flag of Spain</span> National flag

The national flag of Spain, as it is defined in the Constitution of 1978, consists of three horizontal stripes: red, yellow and red, the yellow stripe being twice the height of each red stripe. Traditionally, the middle stripe was defined by the more archaic term of gualda, and hence the popular name la Rojigualda (red-weld).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flag of Venezuela</span> National flag

The current eight-star flag of Venezuela was introduced in 2006. The basic design includes a horizontal tricolour of yellow, blue, and red, dating to the original flag introduced in 1811, in the Venezuelan War of Independence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coat of arms of Chile</span> National coat of arms of Chile

The coat of arms of Chile dates from 1834 and was designed by the English artist Charles Wood Taylor (1792–1856). It is made up by a figurative background divided in two equal parts: the top one is blue and the bottom, red. A five pointed white star is in the centre of the shield. This background is supported in one side by an Andean condor, the most significant bird of prey from the Andes, and in the other, by a huemul, a mammal endemic to Chile. Both animals wear golden naval crowns symbolising the heroic deeds of the Chilean Navy in the Pacific Ocean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cross of Burgundy</span> Historical banner and battle flag

The Cross of Burgundy is a saw-toothed form of the Cross of Saint Andrew, the patron saint of Burgundy, and a historical banner and battle flag used by holders of the title of Duke of Burgundy and their subjects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Standard of Spain</span> Official flag of Spanish monarchs

The Royal Standard of Spain is the official flag of the King of Spain. It comprises a crimson square, traditional colour of both Castilian and Spanish monarchs, with the coat of arms of the King in the center. It is raised over the official royal residence in Madrid, the Palacio de la Zarzuela and other Spanish royal sites, when the monarch is in residence and displayed on his official car as small flag. The current flag was adopted when Felipe VI acceded the throne as King of Spain on 19 June 2014. The Royal Standard is regulated by Rule 2 of Royal Decree 527/2014, 20 June, an amendment to Title II of Spanish Royal Decree 1511/1977 adopting Flags, Standards, Guidons, Insignia and Emblems Regulation.

Spain has many coats of arms: the nation has one, the reigning monarch and the heir presumptive each have one, and there are others for the institutions of state and for Spanish regions and towns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flag of Mexico</span> National flag

The national flag of Mexico is a vertical tricolor of green, white, and red with the national coat of arms charged in the center of the white stripe. While the meaning of the colors has changed over time, these three colors were adopted by Mexico following independence from Spain during the country's War of Independence, and subsequent First Mexican Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coat of arms of the Second Spanish Republic</span>

The Coat of arms of the Second Spanish Republic was the emblem of the Second Spanish Republic, the government that existed in Spain between April 14, 1931, when King Alfonso XIII left the country, and April 1, 1939, when the last of the Republican forces surrendered to Francoist forces at the end of the Spanish Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spanish Republican Navy</span> Military unit

The Spanish Republican Navy was the naval arm of the Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic, the legally established government of Spain between 1931 and 1939.

In heraldry, a stain is one of a few non-standard tinctures or colours, which are only known to occur in post-medieval heraldry and may be used as part of a rebatement of honour. However, in heraldic practice almost none of these rebatements are in fact found; and in British heraldry the stains find only exceptional use, other than for purposes of livery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madrid Distinction</span> Award

The Madrid Distinction was one of the highest military awards of the Second Spanish Republic. It was a decoration related to the Laureate Plate of Madrid. which was established by the Second Spanish Republic in order to reward courage. In the same manner as the Laureate Plate it was named after Madrid, the capital of Spain, owing to the city symbolizing valour and the defence of the Spanish Republic during the long Siege of Madrid throughout the Spanish Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catalan Republic (1931)</span>

The Catalan Republic was a state proclaimed in 1931 by Francesc Macià as the "Catalan Republic within the Iberian Federation", in the context of the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic. It was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, and superseded three days later, on 17 April, by the Generalitat de Catalunya, the Catalan institution of self-government within the Spanish Republic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heraldry of Castile</span> Heraldry of the Iberian kingdom

The coat of arms of Castile was the heraldic emblem of its monarchs. Historian Michel Pastoureau says that the original purpose of heraldic emblems and seals was to facilitate the exercise of power and the identification of the ruler, due to what they offered for achieving these aims. These symbols were associated with the kingdom, and eventually also represented the intangible nature of the national sentiment or sense of belonging to a territory.

References

  1. La Tricolor. Breve historia de la Bandera Republicana
  2. 1 2 La Tricolor. Breve historia de la Bandera Republicana
  3. Decreto de 27 de abril de 1931 de Presidencia del Gobierno Provisional de la República.
  4. Gaceta de Madrid, Decreto del 27 de abril de 1931 del gobierno provisional de la República, 28 April 1931
  5. FOTW - Spanish Civil War 1936-1939
  6. Archived 2020-03-05 at the Wayback Machine Workers' Commissions demonstration[ permanent dead link ]
  7. "United Left logo". Archived from the original on 2012-12-19. Retrieved 2012-01-28.
  8. Republican demonstration
  9. demonstration [ permanent dead link ]
  10. Decreto del 27 de abril de 1931 de la Presidencia del Gobierno Provisional de la República. La bandera de la República española es "roja..., amarilla... y morada oscura..."
  11. Poster - Allegory of the Spanish Republic.
  12. Versions of the colours of the Flag of the Second Spanish Republic.
  13. ABC - La república.
  14. "El origen daltónico de la bandera republicana". ABC (in European Spanish). 6 August 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
  15. 1 2 "Escudo Real Madrid" (in Spanish). santiagobernabeu.com. Archived from the original on 19 October 2008. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
  16. Los coloures «republicanos» del Real Madrid - ABC.es.
  17. La Franja Morada.
  18. Spanish Medical Aid Committee