Post your favorite or unfavorite flag, coat of arms, etc.

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SaltyJesus: Jun 2, 2011; Arf!

I love the flag of the short lived Second Spanish Republic:

Just look at that murrey (mulberry-colored) band. :swoon:

When I lived in Catalunya every time there would be an independence march/protest you'd see at least a couple people flying this flag (usually the civil ensign, without the coat of arms). One of the legacies of the Second Republic was that under its 1931 constitution every region had the right to autonomy, Catalonia exercised this right in 1932 and Basque Country in 1936. This was also the flag of the Republic and republicans who would end up fighting against Franco and his pseudo-fascists, as such it's an important symbol of freedom for many.

Wikipedia posted:

The flag of the Second Spanish Republic was also used by the Spanish Maquis between the end of the Spanish Civil War and the early 1960s, and later by the Spanish National Liberation Front (FELN). Versions of this flag were used in the 1970s by the radical anti-Francoist groups Revolutionary Antifascist Patriotic Front (FRAP) and First of October Anti-Fascist Resistance Groups (GRAPO).

The Republican flag is now widely used by trade unions and left-wing political organizations, such as United Left and some factions of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party.

The Constitution of 1931 posted:

Art�culo primero.
Espa�a es una Rep�blica democr�tica de trabajadores de toda clase, que se organiza en r�gimen de Libertad y de Justicia.
Los poderes de todos sus �rganos emanan del pueblo.
La Rep�blica constituye un Estado integral, compatible con la autonom�a de los Municipios y las Regiones.
La bandera de la Rep�blica espa�ola es roja, amarilla y morada.

------------------------------------

First article.
Spain is a democratic republic of workers of all classes, organized in a regime of Liberty and Justice.
The powers of all its organs derive from the people.
The Republic constitutes an integral State, compatible with the autonomy of the Municipalities and Regions.
The flag of the Spanish Republic is red, yellow and murray.

The murray color has an interesting history in Spanish vexillology, Wiki has a decent overview of it but unfortunately only in Spanish. Symbolically, the colors of the flag are supposed to represent all the peoples of Spain. The murray band is a reference to the Pend�n Morado banner of Castilla, the historical accuracy of which has been debated. The heraldic lion of Le�n is purpure while the traditional color of Castilla is crimson, it is possible murray is a corruption of these colors. It also may be inspired by the mythologized 1520 revolt of the comuneros in which the citizens of Castilla revolted against Charles V. (depending on who you ask the rebellion was about any number of things, anti-feudalism, social injustice, freedom, lower taxation, perceived foreign occupation etc.) The Castillan anti-royalists are said to have used a murray banner of Castilla, like the regular one but with a purple field instead of crimson.

In the center of the flag is a republican coat of arms.

There are some notable differences from the official Spanish royal coat of arms:

As an aside, many heraldists have complaints about the official one (look at the loving color they chose to represent purpure) so here's a "corrected" version:

We can see that the central escutcheon/oval of the House of Bourbon is missing for obvious reasons. Similarly, the imperial crown of the Holy Roman Empire on the left pillar, and the Spanish royal crown in the center top and on the right pillar have been removed. The central crown has been replaced with a mural crown. (made out of city walls) Interestingly, mural crowns have been retained by Catalan heraldry for use in regional coats of arms.

There are literally hundreds of these in various village/town coats of arms, for example here is the coat of arm of Sant Joan Desp� where I lived.

The pillars represent the Pillars of Hercules, which is an old-timey name for land on either side of the straight of Gibraltar. Around them is wrapped the motto "PLUS ULTRA" meaning "further beyond"; it is adopted from the personal motto of Charles V and is a Latin translation of Plus Oultre, his original motto in Old French. The escutcheon is a composite of six arms, representing the important Spanish kingdoms: the castle of Castilla, the lion of Le�n, the four red pallets of Arag�n, the golden chains of Navarre, and the pomegranate of Granada. If anyone is interested I can also write a little about the unification of the Spanish kingdom and the various dynastic unions that led to the coat of arms being the patchwork that it is.

Oh, and to the guy above me. This Charles V guy I mentioned twice, his personal coat of arms looked like this:

Next time I effortpost about the former and current flags and coats of arms of the states that constituted the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. (Perhaps with a companion post including a bunch of maps in the politically-loaded maps thread.

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SaltyJesus: Jun 2, 2011; Arf!

frytechnician posted:

Best flag which has already been posted will forever be Wales. I also have a strong love of the flag of St Jordi, which is effectively the "St George"s / Valentine's day of Catalunya solely because I get to see the flag of England (where I'm from) next to the flag of Catalunya (where I live and work) and it's like we're friends.

Side note: The best national anthem goes to Uruguay. It's like something from Mary Poppins!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Azx7dcS0lFA

That's actually the official flag of the city of Barcelona. Sant Jordi is Barcelona's patron saint. (as well as a patron saint of Catalunya, England, Georgia and a ton of other places, the dude got around)

The cross of St. George is a pretty common vexillological symbol.