Last modified: 2024-11-23 by 
klaus-michael schneider
Keywords: portugal | quina | escutcheons | armillary sphere | hope | sacrifice |
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![[Portugal national flag]](../images/p/pt.gif)
2:3, image by Vítor Luís and António Martins-Tuválkin, 23 Sep 2004
Flag and coat of arms adopted
on 30 June
1911.
Nozomi Kariyasu, 28 Feb 1998
The portuguese national flag is a 2:3 rectangle divided vertically into
green at the hoist (2/5 of the flag’s length) and red at the fly (3/5).
Centered in this partition a coat of arms consisting on an armillary sphere
charged with the traditional portuguese shield.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 4 June 1997
The portuguese constitution is extremely laconic regarding flags. The only specifically vex info there is in Article 11 (National symbols), paragraph 1. and reads (my translation):
The national flag, symbol of the soveregnty of the Republic and of Portugal’s independence, unity and integrity, is the one adopted by the Republic established by the Revolution of 5 October 1910.And that’s it. The Portuguese constitution, by the way, has 299 articles, some of them quite long.
In fact upon adoption in 1911 by the Constitutional assembly, the flag was described as, and I quote,
bi-partida verticalmente em duas côres fundamentaes, verde escuro e escarlate, ficando o verde do lado da tralha.Wich means «vertically divided in two fundamental colours, dark green and scarlet, with the green in the hoist side.»
Here are the Portuguese flag colours:
Red (fly field)
Green (hoist field)
Gold (castles, armilary sphere)
Blue (escutcheons)
White (besants, inner shield, the fimbriation next to the red border)
Black (lining around all elements, exc. bezants and fields) [ed.]My Pantone Book of Colour has a 2 + 4 digits reference plus name.
With this one I would point out «Pepper green» (18-5841) as the
best approximation to the 1911 booklet by the flag’s author himself
[cba11] (my copy is in mint state and
apparently not discoloured). Please note this was more or less the tone
that one would constantly see in the early depictions of the flag.
A. S. Marques, 25 Nov 1998
The five escutcheons are in medium or dark blue, never in sky
blue. This is not written anywhere, but is quite traditional.
A. S. Marques, 25 Nov 1998
Flag meant to simbolize Hope (green) + Sacrifice (red)…
A. S. Marques, 25 Nov 1998
About the symbolism, it’s a fairy tale. The
green and red where adopted by the republicans
without this symbolism (rather from
masonic-carbonarian connections), which was
added later to give the flag more “dignity”. It’s
a typical case of symbolism emerging from the design.
Jorge Candeias, 27 Nov 1998
![[Portugal national flag reverse]](../images/p/pt_.gif)
2:3 image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 10 June 2008
The correct image of the reverse of the Portuguese national flag is a mirror image of the obverse , this flag being a two-dimensional object in spite of its design complexity: The ecliptic of the armillary sphere being the only non-symmetrical element of the Portuguese arms, on the obverse its upper end is on the green/hoist side and its lower end is on the red/fly side.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 10 June 2008
The common symbolism explanation for the current flag of Portugal (aside from the coat of arms), is that the green represents the territory conquered by war and maritime exploration, and that the red represents the blood shed to attain such territory. As a Portuguese we all learn this at school, and as far as I know, it is a narrative that began, when the dictatorship was implemented in Portugal as a way to boost nationalist sentiments (back in 1926 or 1933 if I am not mistaken, and depending if one considers the dictatorship or the "Estado Novo").
I recently acquired the book Nuno Severiano Teixeira: "Heróis do Mar". The author is a professor at the New University of Lisbon and director of the Portuguese Institute for International Relations. In this book, where he explains the origins and history of the Portuguese Republican flag and anthem, he uses a lot of historical material from the "Catálogo da Exposição Bandeiras de Portugal". As I understood, this was an exhibition with a huge wealth of old Portuguese flags, proposals for a new flag, historical flags, etc.
Acc. to the author and the photographs of the flags from such exhibition, the first flag to be hoisted after the Republican revolution of 1910 was the Carbonária flag
![[Portugal carbonaria maior flag]](../images/p/pt_910cm.gif)
2:3, image by Henrique Sánchez, 28 Aug 2016
this online book (see file page 18-20 of the book I mentioned and attachment for a reconstruction I
have made),
The Carbonária had been a secret society, see English WIKIPEDIA, which colaborated with the Grande Oriente Lusitano Unido, see Portuguese WIKIPEDIA, in the implementation of the Portuguese Republic on October 5th 1910. This flag was raised in all headquarters and public buildings, as well as in the municipal hall of Lisbon and replaced the blue and white monarchy flag in the São Jorge Castle. This flag´s resemblance with the current Portuguese flag is unmistakable, and is largely unknown by most people, especially the Portuguese. The flag itself features an
armillary sphere (symbol of the Portuguese maritime discoveries), the initiatic symbols of the Masonry, a silver star with a golden shine, and the red and green bi-partied colours. The significance of the red and green colours is harder to source, as there seem to be no records about it. Considering the context of the time (early 20th century), it is very likely that the red stands for the revolutionary spirit (as associated with the French Revolution in 1789-99, see English WIKIPEDIA. The green colour, on the other hand, seems to stem from positivist values , see English WIKIPEDIA. It is documented that the Carbonária or its members heralded positivist values and ideals. An example of the association of the the colour green with positivism is also present in the flag of Brazil.
Sources: here, here and here
So, the flag of the Carbonária and its two main colours represent the revolutionary spirit and positivism. These colours and the over all flag design of the Carbonária flag are what directly inspired the current flag of Portugal. In the book "Heróis do Mar" this is made apparent since:
The flag of the republican party is not as similar to the Portuguese flag (see image below left) for a reconstruction I have made, which you can also confirm in the book and which you have in your website).
![[Portugal centrodemocraticofederal flag]](../images/p/pt_910cdf.gif) 2:3, image by Henrique Sánchez, 28 Aug 2016 |
![[Portugal comissao revolucao proposal#1]](../images/p/pt_910pcr.gif) 2:3, image by Henrique Sánchez, 28 Aug 2016 |
Both the Carbonária flag and the first proposal by the Republican Commission in charge of a new flag (see image below right) for a reconstruction I have made, which you can also confirm in the book are closest to the current Portuguese flag (which is the second proposal by said commission)
Based on this small "research" one can then conclude that the present meaning often associated with the flag of Portugal is historically wrong, though like it is pointed in the Flags of the World website, it is a case of symbolism emerging from design.
Henrique Sánchez, 28 Aug 2016
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