Flag of the Azores

Flag of the Azores
	; ;
Vexillological symbol :	?
Aspect ratio:	2: 3
Officially accepted:	April 10, 1979

The flag of the Azores is based on the old Portuguese national flag at sea , which was valid from 1830 to 1910. The flag was officially adopted on April 10, 1979 with the Despacho Normativo n ° 4/79 / A. It was first set on April 12, 1979.

Description and meaning

The aspect ratio of the flag is 2: 3. Two fifths of it is blue on the leech , the flight part, which makes up three fifths, is white. The Azores blue , a very dark blue (B +++), is significantly darker than the blue of its model. The coat of arms of Portugal is in the jack . It symbolizes the islands' political affiliation with Portugal . At the dividing line of the colors there is a golden hawk , from whose Portuguese name Açor , the name of the islands is derived. However, this is due to an error. The sailors who gave the islands their name found common buzzards ( Buteo buteo ) on the islands. There are no hawks in the Azores. Nine golden stars form an arc above the hawk. They stand for the nine main islands of the archipelago: Corvo , Flores , Faial , Pico , São Jorge , Graciosa , Terceira , Santa Maria and São Miguel .

history

2: 3 ^?Flag of Portugal at Sea, 1830 to 1910

After the separation of Portugal and Brazil in 1822, the kings of Portugal continued to use the white Union flag with the combined coat of arms of the two areas. During the War of Miguelists , the Liberals founded a government in exile in the Azores . It used a blue and white flag with the state coat of arms in modern French form and a crown in the center, which was first set on the island of Terceira. When King Michaels I went into exile in 1834, the blue and white flag became the new flag of Portugal. At sea the blue part only took up a third of the flag, while on land the two parts of the flag were the same size.

^?Flag of the Frente de Libertação dos Açores, 1974 to 1976

As early as October 1897, locals demanded greater administrative autonomy from Portugal and set a blue and white flag with a hawk and nine stars. The Azorean Liberation Front , which claimed the autonomy of the archipelago between 1974 and 1976, also used different versions of this flag. In the example shown here, the coloring does not correspond to a hawk or a buzzard. This could be due to poor templates, but also because an American bald eagle served as a model for the bird . The FLA worked closely with the American secret service CIA .

More flags of the Azores

The regional president of the Azores wields a blue and white flag (the colored areas in a ratio of 1: 1) with the coat of arms of the Azores in the center.

The 19 districts in the Azores have their own flags, which largely follow the requirements for Portuguese municipal flags , sometimes more, sometimes less. A unique variation for municipal coats of arms and flags in Portugal shows the city of Horta , which uses a gold coat of arms instead of a brick one. The individual villages also have their own flags.