Many people know what the flag of Spain looks like, but probably not everyone knows why the country chose these colors for its banner. Quite often, state standards reflect their history. Spain was no exception. Its coat of arms and flag have evolved over the centuries as a powerful, centralized empire forms from the small kingdom of Leon. Not without metamorphoses in the twentieth century. The national banners of the country changed during the Republic and during the dictatorship of Franco. So the current flag of Spain was officially approved relatively recently - in 1981, December 19. How this symbol of the country was created, and how it looks today - read in this article.
Flag of Catalonia and Aragon
The legend claims that after the Reconquista (conquering the Christian lands from the Moors), the king of Aragon Gottfried Berenguer dipped his fingers into the wounds of the Moorish king and drew his blood with several stripes along the Vatican’s golden banner, thereby symbolizing that henceforth only Roman catholic faith. On the coat of arms of the monarch, the lines were vertical. Their width was equal to golden stripes. However, on the flag of the kingdom, and now the province of Catalonia, we see four horizontal red lines interspersed with five yellow (gold). There is no coat of arms on this banner. Since many of our compatriots go to rest on the Costa Brava or a little south of Barcelona, they have a false idea of which flag Spain has. The provinces in this country are endowed with great authority, and land plots are fluttering at state institutions.
Flag of the times of the centralized monarchy
When King of Aragon Alphonse married with the heiress of the throne, Princess Maria of Castile, in 1415, their lands merged together. It was a huge conglomerate, including not only Catalonia and the lands around Toledo, but also Valencia, Naples, Mallorca, Asturias, Sicily, Sardinia. The national emblem of the future empire was taken the emblem and royal standard of Aragon - red and yellow isometric stripes. And when the Bourbon dynasty ascended the throne, the flag of Spain changed. Their “tribal” color was white, with royal gold lilies throughout the field. However, the Bourbon family and its related Habsburgs took root in many monarchies. They ruled in France and in Italy. Therefore, there was often confusion, especially on the seas, when identifying citizenship of ships.
Back to the roots
In 1785, the Spanish monarch Carlos III of Bourbon, by his royal decree, ordered the ships to change the white standards with the emblem to yellow-red. Returning to the heraldic colors of Aragon, the king nevertheless decided to insert his coat of arms on the canvas. So that the stripes did not cross it, he reduced the number of red lines and made them thinner. On a yellow background, the royal coat of arms looked more impressive. In this form, the flag of Spain lasted until 1927, when it was officially approved as the national symbol of the country. During the Republic (1931), the royal coat of arms was removed, and the banner began to consist of equal yellow, purple and scarlet stripes. During the Civil War, the scarlet color was replaced by purple. After the victory of the dictatorship of Franco, the flag again turned red-yellow. He was decorated with a black eagle with a shield, and the crown was depicted as an open bowl of a flower. This symbolized that the throne of the monarchy was empty.
Spain modern flag
The photo shows that the current main standard of the country is a rectangular panel with three horizontal stripes. Two of them - red - are located on the upper and lower edges. These lines are equal to each other in parameters. The yellow stripe in the middle should be twice as wide as the red ones. At a distance of one third of the pole, a national emblem is visible. It is placed only on the yellow stripe and does not touch the reds. The coat of arms is crowned with a crown - a sign that Spain is a monarchy. This national symbol has also gone through many modifications in its history. Now the emblem of the country consists of heraldic shields of the five main provinces. The castle of Castile, the yellow-red stripes of Aragon, the lion of Leon, the Navarre gold chain with an emerald and the golden fruit of a pomegranate on a silver background of Andalusia flaunt on it. The modern coat of arms and flag of Spain were approved by King Juan Carlos in 1981.