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Geography, economy, society

The Spanish Flag

Red and yellow, the "rojigualda": a flag born at sea in the eighteenth century, with a coat of arms that tells how Spain was formed.

The Spanish flag, familiarly called the rojigualda (red and gualda, a deep yellow), has three horizontal stripes: red at top and bottom and yellow in the middle, twice as wide as the others. This is laid down in Article 4 of the 1978 Constitution, which adds that the autonomous communities may have their own flags, to be flown alongside the national one on public buildings and at official ceremonies.

Origins

The colours were born at sea: in 1785 King Charles III, who before becoming king of Spain had been king of Naples, chose red and yellow for warships so that they would stand out better at a distance than the white flags with coats of arms then used by many Bourbon monarchies. They were the colours of the crown of Aragon and of Castile. In the nineteenth century the rojigualda became the national flag, replaced only during the Second Republic (1931-1939) by a red, yellow and purple tricolour. Franco's regime restored the traditional colours, with a coat of arms including the eagle of St John; the current coat of arms was adopted in 1981.

The coat of arms

The coat of arms sums up how Spain was formed, combining the symbols of the historic kingdoms:

  • the golden castle on red of Castile;
  • the purple lion on white of León;
  • the red and gold stripes of Aragon (the same as on the Catalan flag);
  • the golden chains on red of Navarre;
  • the pomegranate (granada) at the bottom, symbol of the kingdom of Granada, the last to be conquered in 1492.

At the centre is a small shield with the fleurs-de-lis of the house of Bourbon. On either side stand the Pillars of Hercules, representing the headlands of the Strait of Gibraltar, with the Latin motto Plus Ultra, "further beyond": in antiquity the pillars marked the edge of the known world (Non plus ultra), and Emperor Charles V adopted the motto to show that with the discovery of America Spain had gone beyond that limit. According to a popular theory, the dollar sign derives from the pillars and ribbon shown on Spanish silver coins.

An anthem without words

The national anthem, the Marcha Real, is unusual too: it is one of the few anthems in the world without official lyrics. Several versions have been proposed over time, but none has been adopted, partly because of divisions between the country's different identities. See also the autonomous communities and the history of Spain.