Catamarca Province (Argentina)

Provincia de Catamarca

Last modified: 2021-12-23 by rob raeside
Keywords: catamarca | provincia de catamarca |
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1:2 image by Francisco Gregoric, 3 July 2014

• Description of the flag
• Provincial coat of arms
• Historical flags of Catamarca
• Flag of 1815?
• Federal flag usage?
• Use of the provincial coat of arms in unofficial flags

• Subdivisions of Catamarca Province
• Catamarca’s Social and Civic Front party coalition
• Argentina
• Argentine subdivisions (clickable map)

• Province of Catamarca Government official website
  Reported by Francisco Gregoric 03 Aug 2006

Description of the flag

In 2002, a project of law was presented for the creation of a provincial flag of Catamarca. The author of that project was the justicialist (Peronist) provincial representative Nilda R. Navarro de Pandolfi.
Francisco Gregoric, 03 Aug 2006

According to www.parlamentario.com, 11 November 2007, the Provincial Assembly has approved the launching of a contest for a provincial flag. The Ministry of Education of the province will be in charge of the contest and shall set up the rules of selection of the flag.
Ivan Sache, 14 Nov 2007

The Governor of the Catamarca Province has approved on 1 June 2011 (Decree No. 641) the "Rational and rules of the public contest for the design of the flag of the Catamarca Province".

The "Rationale and rules" are given in the Appendix to the Decree. The contest is open to province's students at the secondary or higher level and to citizens, organisations and institutions with a documented presence in the province for at least 10 years. The proposed designs should be supplemented with a descriptive memoir, with no more than 1,000 words, explaining the rationale of the proposal, the meaning of the design, and the meaning of the elements constituting the flag.

The deadline for proposal submission is 20 July 2011. The jury, composed of the Province Minister of Education, Science and Technology, of a local historian and of an heraldist or vexillologist, shall present the winning design on 15 August 2011; its official decision shall be transferred to the Executive for final validation. Once adopted, the flag of the Catamarca Province shall be officially presented in a public ceremony to be held on 25 August 2011.

The specifications are as usual (rectangular flag with proportions 1:2 or 2:3, simplicity...). Any charge shall be placed centered or tierced at hoist, for the sake of visibility. If used, the sun shall match the sun of the national flag, that is with 32 or 19 interspersed flaming and straight rays. The national colors, sky blue and white, shall be preferred.

Ivan Sache, 07 Aug 2011

The flag of Catamarca Province was created on August, 2011. Up until that date, it was the only Argentinian Province which did not have a flag. The flag day was established as August 25, by Decree No. 5231 of 2011. The flag was designed by Claudio Fabián Martinena, the winner of the design contest in order to commemorate the 190th aniversary of the establishment of the Province.

The description of the flag is as follows:

"...posee una forma rectangular con una proporción total de 90 cm de alto por 1,80 cm de ancho, formada por un campo repartido en cuatro partes. En los bordes cuenta con un fileteado teñido de color oro, que representa la riqueza cultural hereditaria que posee la provincia. En tanto, el lateral superior es celeste y blanco, que representa el cielo, la enseña nacional y el manto de la Virgen. En la parte inferior, posee una franja rojo sangre, que representa, “la mixtura de nuestra sangre”. En el centro, en la unión de los colores fue diseñado un sol, inspirado en el sol de los incas. En los laterales del mismo, se diseñó una corona de olivos, formada por 16 hojas, que representan a todos los departamentos de la provincia".

"It has a rectangular shape with a total proportion of 90cm high by 1.80 cm wide, consisting of a field divided into four parts. Edges dyed thread has a gold color, which represents the cultural hereditary having the province. Meanwhile, the upper side is sky blue and white, representing the sky, the national flag and the mantle of the Virgin. At the bottom, has a blood-red stripe, which represents, "the mixture of our blood". in the center, at the junction of the colors was designed a sun, inspired by the sun of the Incas. On the sides of it, it has been designed a crown of olive trees, consisting of 16 leaves, representing all departments province."

The sky blue quarter is located at hoist, and the white one at fly. When the flag was blessed by the first time, its reverse was shown. Therefore, a lot o people thought wrongly that the white quarter had to be at hoist.

The sun is the IRAM standards model used by the Argentine National Flag. The same design was already used in the flag of the Chaco province.
Francisco Gregoric, 3 Jul 2014

• Catamarca province flag at the website of the La Unión Digital newspaper
  Reported by Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg 26 Aug 2012

Provincial coat of arms

The provincial coat of arms was created by Law No.934 of June 24, 1922.

It is a red French shaped coat of arms that has inside an ellipse with the classic Argentine coat of arms (sky blue and white with two arms holding a spear with a Phrygian cap).

The Cross over two arrows, stands for the action of the missionaries and the bunch of grapes stands for the Wine industry

The crown and the castle stand for the past rule of Spain over Catamarca territory.

Finally the coat of arms has a raising sun, four Argentine flags and a crown of laurel.
Francisco Gregoric, 03 Aug 2006

Historical flags of Catamarca

There are not absolutely confirmed testimonies of the use of some flags during the 19 Century in Catamarca.
Francisco Gregoric, 03 Aug 2006

Flag of 1815?

Jorge Hurtado’s collection includes a vertical bicolor of white and blue labeled as Catamarcan flag of 1815.
Jaume Ollé, 14 Aug 2000, translated by António Martins

This flag was apparently raised on May 25, 1815, for the fifth anniversary of the first Argentine self government.
Francisco Gregoric, 14 Oct 2007

Federal flag usage?

It is believed that the flag of the Federal League was hoisted in Catamarca in early 1815.
Jaume Ollé, 14 Aug 2000, translated by António Martins

Use of the provincial coat of arms in unofficial flags

image by Francisco Gregoric, 15 Aug 2006

In the Blue Hall of the Congress Palace in Buenos Aires City, meetings and commemorations are made by the National [Federal] Senate. As the senate is the branch of the Legislative Power that represents provinces, that hall is decorated with all the provincial flags.

However in the cases of the provinces with no official flag, a plain white flag with that province coat of arms at center is used as a kind of unofficial flags or way to represent the province. These designs are not used in the provinces themselves.

For Catamarca a plain white flag with the provincial coat of arms is used. The other province that is represented with this kind of unofficial flag is Córdoba. Before adopting its own provincial flag in 2009 Río Negro was also represented in this way.
Francisco Gregoric, 30 May 2006

• Jaume Ollé’s page about Catamarca flags (in Spanish)