Flag of Spain 1939. What is the flag of Spain? History of the Flag of Spain

The Spanish flag combines two primary colors - red and yellow, which have been strongly associated with Spain since the Middle Ages, although they were adopted as state ones relatively recently, in 1927.

The rectangular flag (aspect ratio is 2:3) is divided into three stripes: the top and bottom, equal in width, are painted red, in the middle there is a wide yellow stripe, which is twice as wide as the others. Against its background, at a distance of one third of the cloth from the staff, is the coat of arms of Spain. Also in use is exactly the same flag without a coat of arms - it is used for private purposes.

Legend has it that this flag was created by one of the Aragonese kings, who decided to make his own banner and commissioned several designs. He liked the option with a gold field, and to complement the overly minimalistic look of the flag and give it more recognition, he applied two stripes with his fingers on the top and bottom, dipping his hands in a goblet of animal blood.

It is likely that this legend is a fiction or distorted rumors. What is known for sure is that the modern version of the flag, only with a slightly different coat of arms from today, began to be used in Spain in 1785. King Carlos III of Bourbon did not like the fact that the Spanish white naval standard could easily be confused with the standards of ships of other countries, so he ordered that a bright, red and yellow frag, decorated with the coat of arms of the House of Bourbon, be installed on warships.

For a short time, the flag of Spain was canceled and replaced by another version with three equally wide stripes of red, yellow and purple. This happened in 1931, with the proclamation of the new republic, but 6 years later, with the outbreak of the civil war, the old flag began to be used much more often, and in 1939, after the overthrow of the republic, Franco finally got rid of the new version and began to use the old red and yellow flag .

In 1981, the flag of Spain acquired its modern appearance - a new, slightly modified version of the coat of arms appeared on the yellow stripe. Including all the coats of arms of the medieval states that today make up the territory of Spain, it symbolizes the unity of Spain.

In the very center is oval shield with golden lilies, which denote the Angevin branch of the Bourbon dynasty - the current king of Spain belongs to this family. Around are the coats of arms of Castile with a yellow castle on a red background, Leon with a red lion on a white background, Aragon with gold stripes, Navarre in the form of several interconnected chains and Andalusia with a pomegranate. These coats of arms form a second, larger shield, on both sides of which there are columns - pillars of Hercules, depicting the Strait of Gibraltar, and on top is a crown, symbolizing the government structure of the country.

Modern version of the coat of arms appeared in 1977 to replace the old, similar one, which was adopted in 1945. It was distinguished by the presence of an eagle that held a shield with coats of arms, a motto ribbon with the words “United, Great, Free” and symbols of Francoism - a dropped yoke and five arrows.

The flag of Spain is made in the form of a rectangular canvas, divided into three horizontal stripes, the aspect ratio of the canvas is 2:3. The top and bottom stripes are red, the middle stripe is yellow. The middle stripe is twice as wide as the outer ones. The wide yellow stripe depicts the coat of arms of Spain, offset to the flagpole.

The meaning of the colors of the flag is symbolic and is associated with the legend of its origin. The legend says that the king of Aragon wanted his army to have its own banner. The king's subordinates were given the task of coming up with this banner. When the projects were completed, the king, having examined them, chose from all those proposed one banner with a smooth golden field. The king looked at the monochromatic banner for a long time and finally ordered a cup of blood to be brought to him. When the cup was brought, the king dipped two fingers into it and ran them along the banner. Two red stripes were imprinted on the banner, top and bottom.

As already mentioned, the central yellow stripe of the Spanish flag features a coat of arms. The history of the coat of arms is very rich and should be discussed separately. In the center of the coat of arms is a shield with images of the emblems of the kingdoms. In the upper half of the shield there are two emblems: Castile (in the form of a castle) and Leon (an image of a lion). Castile and Leon began the unification of the kingdoms in 1479. These two kingdoms united with the kingdom of Aragon, whose emblem is included in the lower left part of the shield. After Granada was recaptured, its emblem was placed in the lower central part of the shield. And then Navarre was recaptured in 1512 and the emblem in the form of a golden chain and lattice fell into the lower right part of the shield. The blue oval with gold lilies in the center of the shield is the emblem of the Bourbons. On top of the shield is a golden royal crown. On the sides of the shield are the famous “pillars of Hercules”, reminiscent of Gibraltar and Tangier - two fortresses located respectively on the sides of the Strait of Gibraltar. In ancient times, the “pillars of Hercules” belonged to Spain, but now the Strait of Gibraltar is the property of Britain. Tangier began to belong to Morocco, which is why one of the “pillars” is crowned with a Moorish crown. The pillars were depicted on the coat of arms in the 16th century, and they were transferred to the flag only in 1873. The pillars on the coat of arms are surrounded by a ribbon on which the motto is written: “Plus Ultra”, which means “nowhere further”. This motto symbolized the advance of the empire westward - to the shores of America. During the reign of General Franco (1939-1975), three words were added to the legendary motto: “Una Grande Libre,” which means “One Great Free.” Thus the changed motto began to read: “Una Grande Libre Plus Ultra” - “Great freedom is most important.” Apparently, the new motto has acquired a certain political slant. And also, during the reign of Franco, the coat of arms on the flag of Spain was supplemented with a single-headed black eagle - a shield holder. The crown at that time was depicted as an open crown, since the throne of the monarch was empty.

The national and state flags of Spain were officially approved on December 19, 1981. By the way, the bottom line during the revolutions of 1873-1876. and 1931-1939 It was painted not red, but purple. Now the lion on the national flag is purple. And also in 1931-1939, the horizontal stripes on the flag were absolutely the same in width. And during the reign of the Bourbons, the flag of Spain was white.

As you can see, the history of the flag and coat of arms is quite extensive and full of a huge number of events. Currently, the flag exists in its approved form.

→ Articles about Spain → Coat of arms and flag of Spain: a reflection of the country's history

Coat of arms and flag of Spain: a reflection of the country's history

Spain is a colorful country that leaves no one indifferent. It's impossible not to fall in love with her.

The Spaniards amaze with their patriotism and love for the country, devotion to it, the king and everything connected with them. The coat of arms and flag evoke special reverence and respect among them.

What does the flag look like?

Surely every person who applies for a visa to Spain knows a lot of interesting things about this country, including its flag.

Externally, it is a rectangular canvas, which is divided into three horizontal unequal stripes:

red - upper and lower, equal in width;
yellow - middle stripe, the width is double the size of the red one.

At the same time, the coat of arms of Spain is depicted on a yellow stripe. The image is located closer to the staff, at a distance of 1/3 of the length of the entire panel.

It is allowed to use both a full and a simplified version of the flag without a coat of arms. As a rule, the first is used for official purposes.

Story

The modern flag of Spain with an updated coat of arms, the full version of which can be seen in the official photo, appeared relatively recently. It was accepted by King Juan Carlos in mid-December 1981.

For many years the country was ruled by the Bourbon dynasty. In those days the flag was snow-white. Since this dynasty also ruled France, confusion often arose in the navy.

To avoid this, in 1785, King Carlos III of Bourbon ordered the country's warships to raise a flag different from the ships of other states. It was from those times that the canvas became a red-yellow tricolor depicting the coat of arms of Castile and Leon. The general principle of that flag has survived to this day, but it became state flag only in 1927.

Between 1931 and 1939, when the country was declared a republic, its flag also changed. Then it was a tricolor of stripes of the same width of red, yellow and purple. However, the military coup of General Francisco Franco ended the republic. As a result, the red and yellow flag was officially restored.

Meaning

Red and yellow colors are not accidental. They are connected with the events of the Reconquista. It was then that the Iberian Christians conquered their own lands from the Moorish emirates. They are also historically associated with the heraldry of Aragon and Castile.

Several legends have reached us that tell about the origin of the Spanish flag. As one of them says, Godfrey Berenguer, who was the king of Aragon, at the end of the battle gave a sign of the end of the war. To do this, he ran his hand, which had blood on it, over his own golden shield. As a result, there were four red stripes left on it.

That is why three stripes appeared on the flag of the kingdom, created a little later. The stripes located along the edges are red, and in the middle - gold.

The fact that the stripes are located horizontally is also no coincidence. This is a reminder that the ruling Habsburg dynasty was able to unite several small European countries into a single state.

What does the coat of arms of Spain mean?

Like the flag, it has an interesting history. Every detail has a special meaning. There are no random signs or images here.

It should be noted that each province and historical part was reflected in it:

a golden stone castle on a red background symbolizes Castile;
purple image of a lion - three Spanish provinces: Leon, Galicia and Asturias;
red and gold stripes - Catalonia, Aragon and Balearic Islands;
gold chains with emerald - province of Navarre;
the garnet on a silver background, depicted at the bottom of the coat of arms, is Andalusia;
the shield, on a turquoise background of which there are three golden lily buds, is the Angevin branch of the Bourbon dynasty, since all the ruling kings of the country belonged to it;
On the sides there are columns - the Pillars of Hercules. Previously this was the name of Gibraltar. For a long time it was considered the end of the world;
This is also evidenced by the slogan Plus Ultra, which is translated from Latin as “beyond the limit.” Before Columbus discovered America, the prefix Non was used and the inscription translated as “nowhere further”;
the majestic royal crown symbolizes royal power. Her image appeared during the reign of Philip II.

Thus, we can say that the modern flag and coat of arms of Spain are a real message encrypted in symbols. It reflects everything valuable that every resident of the country is proud of.

The flag of Spain is a red and yellow rectangular panel consisting of three horizontal stripes. The yellow stripe is in the middle of the flag, the red stripes are on the edges. The red stripes are equal in size, the yellow stripe is twice as wide as each red stripe. On the yellow stripe there is an image of the coat of arms of Spain, slightly shifted towards the flagpole. The aspect ratio is 2:3.

The flag of Spain consists of three horizontal stripes - two equal red ones, top and bottom, between which there is a yellow stripe, the width of which is twice the width of each red stripe. On the yellow stripe at a distance of 1/3 from the pole edge of the cloth there is an image of the coat of arms of Spain.

Legend associates the symbolic meaning of the colors of this flag with its origin. According to legend, one of the kings of Aragon wanted to have his own banner. Looking at the various banner designs, he settled on one with a smooth gold field. Then he ordered a cup of fresh animal blood to be presented and, dipping two fingers into it, the monarch ran them across the yellow cloth, on which two red stripes appeared.

The flag of Spain in its modern form has existed since 1785, when King Charles III of Bourbon ordered Spanish warships to use signs to distinguish them from ships of other countries - the white naval standard of Spain, decorated with the coat of arms of the House of Bourbon, could easily be confused with the standards of ships of other countries. Since then, red and yellow colors have traditionally been associated with Spain, although they were adopted as state colors only in 1927.

In 1931, a republic was proclaimed and a new flag was adopted, which was a rectangular panel with three equal stripes: red, yellow and purple. However, in 1939, the military rebellion of General Francisco Franco finally ended the republic, and the yellow-red flag, which was formally approved back in 1936, was restored immediately after the outbreak of the civil war.

Used unofficially since December 1978.

Historical flags of Spain

This flag was approved by Charles III among the 12 different flags proposed to him.

In 1931, the monarchy officially fell and all symbols began to be eliminated.

The historical flag of Spain was restored with a different coat of arms. It is noteworthy that the eagle replaced the lion.

Sources

Flags of the World. - M.: Eksmo, 2007. - 192 p.: ill.
Real Decreto 441/1981, de 27 de febrero, por el que se especifican técnicamente los colores de la Bandera de España.
Alvarez Junco, José (2009). “La crisis de penetración del Estado.” Mater dolorosa: la idea de España en el siglo XIX (11a edición). Madrid: Taurus. pp. 553–554. ISBN 9788430604418.

Coat of arms of Spain- bringing together its entire history. It represents all the kingdoms that united in modern Spain: Castile is represented by a castle; Leon, Asturias and Galicia - lion; Aragon, Catalonia and Balearic Islands - four red stripes on a gold background; Navarre - in the form of chains; Andalusia is depicted in the form of a pomegranate, since in Spain it grows mainly only on the lands of Granada - the last Muslim state captured by Christian kings during the Reconquista; in the heart of the coat of arms - on an oval-shaped shield, three golden lilies in an azure field with a scarlet border represent the Angevin branch of the Bourbon dynasty, to which the king and his family belong, and the crown crowning the coat of arms, - a sign that Spain - kingdom; the columns symbolize the Pillars of Hercules, as Gibraltar was previously called, which at one time was considered the end of the world. It is interesting to note that the well-known dollar sign - these are the same Pillars of Hercules, entwined with ribbon.

The motto is “PlvsVltra " - lat. beyond the limit(Before Columbus discovered America: NonPlvsVltra - lat. nowhere else, because the pillars of Hercules were considered the end of the world).

National flag of Spain consists of three horizontal stripes- the top and bottom are red, the middle is yellow, the width of which is twice as wide as the red one. On the yellow stripe there is an image of the coat of arms of Spain shifted to the shaft.

The flag of Spain in its modern form has existed since 1785when the king

Carlos III Bourbon ordered Spanish warships to use signs to distinguish them from ships of other countries - the white naval standard of Spain, decorated with the coat of arms of the House of Bourbon, could easily be confused with the standards of ships of other countries. Since then, red and yellow colors have traditionally been associated with Spain, although they were adopted as state colors only in 1927 G.