Flag of Portugal
Flag Ratio: 1:2
The flag of Portugal is a 2:3 green and red 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. It was officially adopted on June 30, 1911, but had in fact been in use since the Republican revolution of 5 October 1910.
The flag has a much more obscure meaning than the traditional one. During the Estado Novo, the Portuguese Nationalist Authoritarian regime which lasted from 1933 to 1974, it was said that the green represented the woods of Portugal and the red represented the blood of those who died serving the nation. This definition of the colours is currently the commonly accepted one, however the original meaning is much more obscure. The green and red are the traditional colours of Iberic Federalism, a Republican-Socialist ideology very common at the beginning of the century and which defended the Political union of Portugal and Spain.
The circular design is an armillary sphere which replaced the crown in the old monarchist flag. It represented the Portuguese Colonial Empire at the time of the Revolution and the discoveries that Portugal made. The traditional Portuguese shield is present in almost every single Portuguese flag.
The five white points in the five shields in the center of the flag refer to a legend concerning the first King of Portugal. The story tells that before the Battle of Ourique (26 July 1139), King Afonso was praying for the protection of the Portuguese people when a vision of Jesus on the cross appeared to him. King Afonso won the battle and, in gratitude, incorporated Christ's five wounds into his flag.
The seven castles are a symbol of the Portuguese people's victories over their enemies; it was also the symbol of the Kingdom of Algarve.
Right after the Republican Revolution, on October 5, 1910, the Monarchist flag was abolished and the State ran a contest of flag proposals for the new government.
There was a strong debate whether if the traditional Portuguese blue/white should be mantained or if the green/red from the Republican Party should be adopted. Although most of the proposals centered themselves in blue/white flags, the final winner was a red/green one. Announced on June 30, 1911, it was based on the flag flown by the rebel ship Adamastor, during the Republican Revolution.
Although it is nowadays deeply rooted in the Portuguese people, the red/green, or the Verde e Rubra, as it is called in Portugal, is still rejected by some conservative sectors of the society. The Monarchists, for example, still use the traditional blue/white liberal flag from 1820 and the nationalists like to use a blue/white flag without the crown, being a republican flag without the socialist green/red.
Another problem is the Heraldic Paradoxal question: under heraldic rules, the green should never enter in contact with the red. Being that, many heraldrly and vexillology scholars consider the Portuguese (and the Lithuanian flag, for intance) as being an heraldic mistake. The flag is also considered a bit ugly by most people.Meaning of the flag
History
Heraldic and Social Problems
| National flags |
| List of national flags | Gallery of national flags |
| List of national coats of arms |