Flag of Argentina
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The national flag of Argentina dates from 1812. It is a triband, composed of three equally wide horizontal bands coloured light blue, white and light blue. In 1818, a yellow Sun of May was added to the center.
The full flag featuring the sun is called the 'Official Ceremony Flag' (Spanish: Bandera Oficial de Ceremonia). The flag without the sun is considered the 'Ornamental Flag' (Spanish: Bandera de Ornato). While both versions are equally considered the national flag, the ornamental version must always be hoisted below the Official Ceremony Flag. In vexillological terms, the Official Ceremony Flag is the civil, state and war flag and ensign, while the Ornamental Flag is an alternate civil flag and ensign.
Official description
Shape and size
From 1978, the flag's official proportions are 9:14, and its official size is 0.9 by 1.4 metres. It features three stripes alternating cerulean blue - white - cerulean blue. Each stripe is 30 centimetres in height. In the center stripe there is an emblem known as the Sun of May (Spanish: Sol de Mayo), a golden sun. The Sun is modeled after the symbol of Inti, the Incan god of the Sun. Flags with proportions of 1:2 and 2:3 are also in use.Colours
The colours are subject to discussion, and there is no official position on colour usage. The Spanish word celeste (cerulean blue) is used to describe the colour of the blue stripes. Cerulean blue's is defined by Pantone as N21-01, which equals 155, 196, 226 in RGB notation.
| Colour | RGB | HTML | HSV | Lab | CMYK | Sample
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cerulean Blue | 156, 196, 226 | #9BC4E2 | 201, 31, 89 | 77, -9, -20 | 37, 12, 3, 0 | |
| Cerulean Blue (Websafe) | 153, 205, 255 | #99CCFF | 210, 40, 100 | 80, -3, -31 | 35, 10, 0, 0 | |
| White | 255, 255, 255 | #FFFFFF | 0, 0, 100 | 100, 0, 0 | 0, 0, 0, 0 | |
| Golden Yellow | 255, 205, 51 | #FFCD33 | 45, 80, 100 | 85, 8, 76 | 1, 19, 89, 0 | |
| Black | 0, 0, 0 | #000000 | 0, 0, 0 | 0, 0, 0 | 75, 68, 67, 90 |
The sun
The sun, called Sun of May, is a replica of an engraving on the first Argentine coin, approved in 1813, whose value was eight escudos (one Spanish dollar).In 1978 the sun colour was specified to be golden yellow (amarillo oro), to have an inner diameter of 10 centimeters, and an outer diameter of 25 centimeters (the diameter of the sun equals [5/6th] the height of the white stripe. The sun's face is [2/5th] of its height). It features 32 rays, 16 undulated and 16 straight, in alternation and from 1978 it must be embroidered in the 'Official Ceremony Flag'.
History
Creation
According to tradition, during the Argentine War of Independence General Manuel Belgrano was commanding a battle near Rosario. He noticed that both the Crown's forces and the independence forces were using the same colors (Spain's yellow and red). After realizing this, Belgrano created a new flag using the colors that were used by the Criollos during the May Revolution in 1810. However, recent research and studies would indicate that the colors were chosen from the coat of arms of the House of Bourbon the royal family of Spain, and that during the May Revolution the color used by the criollos was a red piece of cloth, as pointed by the popular historian Felipe Pigna. Also, aparently the original flag was quite different from the current one: it had two vertical stripes, one blue and the other one, white. The flag was first flown, for the soldiers to swear allegiance to it, on 27 February 1812, on the Batería Libertad (Liberty Battery), by the Paraná River.
Belgrano dispatched a letter addressed to the First Junta, informing them of the newly created flag. The Junta, fearing the Spanish Crown, sent a warning to Belgrano not to fight under the flag, but by the time the reply had arrived, Belgrano had moved on, and was flying the flag on the battlefield.
The flag was hoisted for the first time in Buenos Aires atop the Saint Nicholas of Bari Church on August 23, 1812 (where nowadays the Obelisco is located).
After the declaration of independence on July 9, 1816, the flag was adopted as a symbol by the Argentine National Congress.
Changes
On February 25, 1818, a sun was added to the battle flag. The sun was copied after the one that the first Argentine coin featured in 1813. It was subsequently decided to be part of the regular flag afterwards, and thus the sun no longer represents war.
On June 8, 1938, president Roberto Ortiz sanctioned a law declaring June 20 "Flag Day", a national holiday (the date was decided after the anniversary of Belgrano's death). In 1957 the National Flag Memorial (a 10,000 m² monumental complex) was inaugurated in Rosario to commemorate the creation of the flag, and the official Flag Day ceremonies have been customarily conducted in its vicinity since then.
In 1978 it was specified, among other measurements, that the Official Ceremony Flag should be 1.4 meters in width and 0.9 meters in height, and that the sun must be embroidered.
Anthems to the flag
Aurora (Sunrise)
Alta en el cielo, un águila guerrera Audaz se eleva en vuelo triunfal. Azul un ala del color del cielo, Azul un ala del color del mar.
Así en el alta aurora irradial. Punta de flecha el áureo rostro imita. Y forma estela el purpurado cuello. El ala es paño, el águila es bandera.
Es la bandera de la patria mía, del sol nacida que me ha dado Dios. Es la bandera de la patria mía, del sol nacida que me ha dado Dios.
High in the sky, a warrior eagle audacious it rises in its triumphal flight A blue wing of the color of the sky A blue wing of the color of the sea
Thus in the high irradial aurora. The tip of an arrow the golden face imitates. And the purple neck leaves a wake. The wing is cloth, the eagle is flag.
It is the flag of my homeland, born from the sun that God gave me. It is the flag of my homeland, born from the sun that God gave me.
By: H. C. Quesada, L. Illica, H. Panizza.
Salve Argentina (Long live Argentina)
Salve, Argentina, bandera azul y blanca. Jirón del cielo en donde impera el Sol. Tú, la más noble, la más gloriosa y santa, el firmamento su color te dio.
Yo te saludo, bandera de mi Patria, sublime enseña de libertad y honor. Jurando amarte, como así defenderte, mientras palpite mi fiel corazón.
Hail, Argentina, Blue and white flag Part of the sky Where the sun reigns You, The Most Noble The Most Glorious and Saint The sky gave you its colours
I salute you Flag of my motherland Grand symbol of freedom and honour Swearing to love you and to defend you while my faithful heart beats
By: Leopoldo Corretjer.
Myths about the flag
The most accepted interpretation of the flag is that it represents the sky, clouds and sun. However, there are several folk stories about the colors of the flag. One story says that the blue symbolizes the Río de la Plata (literally "River of Silver") and the white symbolizes silver (the name "Argentina" comes from the Latin word for silver, argentum). Another story states that the colors are based on those of the House of Bourbon, and a third suggests that they are derived from the clothing of the Virgin Mary.It is not known with certainty that Belgrano created the flag, but during the wars of independence against Spain, he was the first to use it, even though the criollo government didn't approve it.
Another popular belief is that the version with the sun is a war flag while the sunless version is not, but while this was originally the case after the approval of Congress in 1818, it was changed afterwards.
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