PATRIOTIC COLORS

The history of the colors of our flag goes back to the need to recognize the Spanish flag on vessels of the Spanish Royal Navy, because with the advent of the Bourbon Philip V at the time of that kingdom in Spain since 1700 until July 9, 1746, this flag set as the royal arms on the white cloth typical of the House of Bourbon.

From now until the reign of Charles III the Spanish royal pavilion will be the one described above.Due to the widespread use of the flag with white cloth typical of Bourbon between the different kingdoms that ruled on this house (Naples France, Tuscany or Sicily) Carlos III ordered his minister of marine Antonio Valdés y Bazán one contest with In order to find a new flag for the navy and merchant ships in order to distinguish them from other nations. Of the 12 sketches that were submitted to the contest, the king chose two, to which various dimensions of the slots would be for a merchant marine and the other for the royal navy.


Following the election on May 28th, 1785 is proclaimed a royal decree which says:

"To avoid the inconveniences and damages, which experience has shown can cause the National Flag, to use my Navy shipbuilding, and other Spanish vessels, making mistakes at long distances, or placid winds with those of other nations, have resolved , which is now using my Flag warships divided lengthwise into three lists, of which the major, and the shoal are red, and the width of each of the fourth of the total, and the middle yellow placing this on my Royal Coat of Arms Quartel reduced to the two of Castile and Leon with the Royal Crown above and the banner with the same three lists, and over the shield on yellow square in the top: And use of the other boats, no shield, the same color and should be among the list of yellow, and the width of the third part of the Flag, and each of the other parties divided into two equal lists red, and yellow alternately , all in accordance with the attached design. You may not be used in other pavilions in the North Sea towards Europe as to the parallel of Tenerife in the ocean, and in the Mediterranean from the first of the year 1786: in North America since the beginning of July next;Seas and in the other first year since 1787. Tendréislo understood for compliance. "
"S.M. hand Bookmarks in Aranjuez to twenty-eight of May 1785. " A D. Antonio Valdes.

(Copy extracted verbatim from the website of the Moncloa which in turn comes from the original)

Charles IV de Bourbon (1788-1808) succeeded Charles III in 1788 under his reign the general ordinances of the navy of March 8, 1793, make extensive use of the flag Rojigualda the maritime towns, castles and coastal defenses and define it as a real flag.

Under the reign of Isabel II (1833-1868) expanded the use of the flag bicolor the army, and proceeding to unify the Spanish flag. The Royal Decree of October 13, 1843 provides for the substitution of flags, banners and badges, emblems of the army, with new ones rojigualdas.

Subsequently, the instruction insignia, flags, honors and salutes of the navy, March 13, 1867 again depicts the flag of ships, arsenals and maritime spaces explicitly.

It would be under the reign of Alfonso XII when the National flag would definitely like rojigualda defined by the instruction of December 10, 1878, on signs, flags, honor, and greetings sea in which the first article defines the national flag in the same terms as the above statement, 1867.

Having spent 13 days of the exile of Alfonso XII and the proclamation of the Second Republic, on April 27, 1931 the provisional government by a decree adopted as a flag national flag consisting of three equal stripes of red first, second yellow the third house in the heart of the teaches, has the Republican shield which was established in the Decree, the shield goes back to the days of the revolution of 1868 or also known as the glorious. The decree states that will be used as a shield:

"... That on the back of five-peseta coins minted by the Provisional Government in 1869 and 1870."


As for the purple, the decree says this:

"Today the flag is folded adopted as a national mid-nineteenth century. In it are preserved the two colors and adds a third, admits that the tradition of a region famous logo, a national nerve, with the emblem of the Republic, thus formed, more accurately sums up the harmony of a greatSpain. "

There is some controversy over the origin of the color purple as a symbol of Castile as the Purple Banner of Castile which was so not because it has been shown that this is crimson red, and so are recorded in the minutes book of the municipality of Valladolid which reads "was large and somewhat heavy, three and a half yards wide and long, with crimson damask, with the arms of Castile on both sides painted on the banner said." For the villagers attributed the use of a dwelling for distinguished teaching, but subsequent studies have shown that these used by teaches who wore a red crosses, against the white of the supporters of Charles I.


On July 17, 1936 after the military uprising established the Nationalist side banner for the rojigualda, by instruction of August 29, 1936, on 13 September of that year ordered the Nationalist side was used as a shield to the Republican. On February 2, 1938 the Nationalist side teaches adopt it as the flag with the colors before the Second Republic, which is set to shield the elements of the heraldry of the Catholic Monarchs times, the Eagle of San Juan with the yoke and arrows at the bottom and the quarters of the shield the kingdoms of Castile, Aragon and Navarra, taking the top crown this flag would be official throughout the country after the final defeat of the republican government and the imposition of a dictatorship that lasted 40 years, in 1945 the rebels changed again the shield and again in October 1977 to do so.

With the advent of democracy regime change to a parliamentary monarchy in which the head of state descends from the Bourbon coat of the national ensign suffer a last change, which, on October 5, 1981, curiously 9 months after the last military uprising in Spain - which took place on February 23 - were taken to shield the symbols of the House of Bourbon

Antonio Garcia Leal ®