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Azores Liberation Front (Portugal)

Frente de LibertaÃ§Ã£o dos AÃ§ores

2:3, image byJaume Ollé, 31 July 2024
2:3, image by Jaume Ollé, 12 Aug 1999 / 31 July 2024

Presentation of the Azores Liberation Front
Description and Symbolism of the flag

See also:

Presentation of the Azores Liberation Front

There is no FLA anymore and for a long time now (at least that I know of). Most of the FLA members regrouped in the PDA, Partido Democrático do Atlântico, a national party.
Jorge Candeias, 10 Aug 1999

The F.L.A. was a movement that essentially grew out of fear of a Communist takeover of the country in 1974-1976.
José A. Afonso, 9 Aug 1999

And essentially there was the hand of the CIA behind it to protect the american interests in the Lajes airfield on island Terceira.
Jorge Candeias, 10 Aug 1999

Description and Symbolism of the Flag

The Frente de Libertação dos Açores has a flag that is somehow different than the one approved for use in the region by the Portuguese parliament. Keeping in mind that I haven´t seen this flag in several years, the bird that I can recall is pictured all in gold and with the wings folded down, with the 9 stars (which represent the 9 islands) in a semi-circle below.
José A. Afonso, 9 / 10 Aug 1999

As far as I know, there were several variations of this flag. In some the blue was darker than in others and in some the stars where arranged as a map of the islands and not as a semi-circle.
Jorge Candeias, 10 Aug 1999

This flag is listed under number 17 at the chart Flags of Aspirant Peoples as: "Azores islands (Azores Liberation Front) - Island district, Portugal". Vertical blue-white with ratio 1:2. A golden eagle withou white head with hooked wings and nine golden stars.
Ivan Sache, 15 Sep 1999

Goshwawks (Accipiter gentilis — aÃ§ores, in Portuguese) are greyish with dark spots and and "coat", and buzzards (Buteo buteo, originally mistaken for goshawks thus naming the islands) is brown overall. (In Azores and Madeira, this bird is known locally as Queimado, but the "correct" name in Portuguese is Águia-de-asa-redonda.) The regional flag shows the bird in a dark golden shade. The image of Jaume Ollé, on the other hand, shows a brown bird with white head — in an not so improbable connection with the U.S. This could have two different origins:

The flag actually depicts a bald eagle either to express the US link in FLA or by some designer´s political-ornithological goof.
The image that Jaume Ollée sent, was recoloured from a black and white source with a bit too much of imagination.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 12 Sep 1999

The colour of the eagle as illustrated by Jaume Ollé, with brown body and white head (see right image above), do not match it as depicted on the Flags of Aspirant Peoples, which shows instead the expected golden eagle (see left image above), which matches both the current regional flag, adopted in 1984, after F.L.A. was disbanded, and the 19th century autonomist flag.
There are also slight differences in the placement of the emblem, the shade of blue, and the relative width of the vertical stripes â€” The image of Jaume Ollé being more esthetically pleasing and closer to the modern flag, and the depiction in Flags of Aspirant Peoples, faithful to the what was reported to the authors by people with direct knowledge of actual F.L.A. flag-use, with the eagle and stars closer to the upper hoist, not centred overall, and bright medium blue hoist stripe taking up only 1/3rd of the flag´s width.
Speaking of maps, to be added to our page that the stars on this flag are arrayed in the approximate positions of the 9 main islands of the Azores â€” some more stylised flag map.
Source: flag chart by John Edwards and Ralph Bartlett
António Martins-Tuválkin, 31 July 2024