Senyera - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Senyera (səˈɲeɾə, seˈɲeɾa; roughly meaning "signal flag" in Catalan

Catalan language

Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...

) is a vexillological symbol based on the coat of arms

Coat of arms

A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...

of the Crown of Aragon

Crown of Aragon

The Crown of Aragon Corona d'Aragón Corona d'Aragó Corona Aragonum controlling a large portion of the present-day eastern Spain and southeastern France, as well as some of the major islands and mainland possessions stretching across the Mediterranean as far as Greece...

, which consists of four red stripes on a golden background. This coat of arms, often called bars of Aragon, historically represented the king

Monarch

A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...

of the Crown of Aragon

Crown of Aragon

.

The senyera pattern is nowadays in the flag of four Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

autonomous communities (Catalonia

Catalonia

Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...

, Aragon

Aragon

Aragon is a modern autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces : Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza...

, the Balearic Islands

Balearic Islands

The Balearic Islands are an archipelago of Spain in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula.The four largest islands are: Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera. The archipelago forms an autonomous community and a province of Spain with Palma as the capital...

, Valencia). It's also used on the coat of arms of Spain

Coat of arms of Spain

The current coat of arms of Spain, although it has its roots centuries ago, was approved by law in 1981, when the present established replaced the interim version which, in turn, replaced the official arms of Francoist Spain...

, the coat of arms

Coat of arms

of Pyrénées-Orientales

Pyrénées-Orientales

Pyrénées-Orientales is a department of southern France adjacent to the northern Spanish frontier and the Mediterranean Sea. It also surrounds the tiny Spanish enclave of Llívia, and thus has two distinct borders with Spain.- History :...

and of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur or PACA is one of the 27 regions of France.It is made up of:* the former French province of Provence* the former papal territory of Avignon, known as Comtat Venaissin...

, the flag of Roussillon

Roussillon

Roussillon is one of the historical counties of the former Principality of Catalonia, corresponding roughly to the present-day southern French département of Pyrénées-Orientales...

and Provence

Provence

Provence ; Provençal: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm) is a region of south eastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...

in France, one quarter of the Coat of arms of Andorra

Coat of arms of Andorra

The coat of arms of Andorra has existed for centuries. It supposedly violates the rule of tincture. This coat of arms has been the national coat of arms of Andorra since 1969. Below the shield arms stands Andorra's national motto Virtus Unita Fortior...

, and on the local flags of many municipalities belonging to these territories. The Senyera is also used more informally for the Catalan language

Catalan language

.

It is also a synonym

Synonym

Synonyms are different words with almost identical or similar meanings. Words that are synonyms are said to be synonymous, and the state of being a synonym is called synonymy. The word comes from Ancient Greek syn and onoma . The words car and automobile are synonyms...

(in Catalan

Catalan language

Senyal Reial or Senyera and old Spanish

Spanish language

Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

Señal Real or Señera) for Royal Flag, although the word normally refers to the Catalan and Aragonese flags. Also in Aragonese

Aragonese language

Aragonese is a Romance language now spoken in a number of local varieties by between 10,000 and 30,000 people over the valleys of the Aragón River, Sobrarbe and Ribagorza in Aragon, Spain...

, it is usually referred to as O Siñal d'Aragón, i.e. "The Sign of Aragón".

Origin and history

The Senyera is one of the oldest flag

Flag

A flag is a piece of fabric with a distinctive design that is usually rectangular and used as a symbol, as a signaling device, or decoration. The term flag is also used to refer to the graphic design employed by a flag, or to its depiction in another medium.The first flags were used to assist...

s in Europe to be used in present day, but not in continuous use since its creation. There are several theories advocating either a purely Catalan

Catalonia

or a purely Aragon

Aragon

ese origin for the symbol. On the one hand, the Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana
Great Catalan Encyclopedia
The Great Catalan Encyclopedia is a Catalan-language encyclopedia, started by fascicles, and published in 1968 by Edicions 62. The soul of the work was written by Max Cahner, and the first director was Jordi Carbonell i Ballester...

claims that the first appearance of the flag is in the arms of the tomb of Ramon Berenguer II, Count of Barcelona

Ramon Berenguer II, Count of Barcelona

Ramon Berenguer II the Towhead or Cap de estopes was Count of Barcelona from 1076 until his death...

, died in 1082 as well as later in the seals of Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona

Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona

Ramon Berenguer IV , sometimes called the Holy, was the Count of Barcelona who effected the union between the Kingdom of Aragon and the Principality of Catalonia into the Crown of Aragon....

of Barcelona, first in a Provençal (1150) and then in a Catalan (1157) document. On the other hand, the Gran Enciclopedia Aragonesa
Great Aragonese Encyclopedia
The Gran Enciclopedia Aragonesa is a Spanish language Aragon themed encyclopedia.It was first published in 1981, under the direction of Eloy Fernández Clemente...

states that its first material undisputed evidence dates back to a royal seal of Alfonso II of Aragon

Alfonso II of Aragon

Alfonso II or Alfons I ; Huesca, 1-25 March 1157 – 25 April 1196), called the Chaste or the Troubadour, was the King of Aragon and Count of Barcelona from 1164 until his death. He was the son of Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona and Petronilla of Aragon and the first King of Aragon who was...

(1159), and that all evidences about a "Catalan" origin must be discarded, since historically nothing can be accepted other than the concept of "barcelonès"

Barcelona

Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...

, and understanding that as allusive to the County House of Barcelona (Counts of Barcelona), but not of Catalonia.

Furthermore, the Pennon of the Conquest

Pennon of the Conquest

The Pennon of the Conquest is the flag raised by the Moors of Valencia, Spain, on September 28, 1238 on the tower of Alī-Bufāt, later called Torre del Temple, to indicate their surrender to the troops of king James I of Aragon...

of Valencia

Kingdom of Valencia

The Kingdom of Valencia , located in the eastern shore of the Iberian Peninsula, was one of the component realms of the Crown of Aragon. When the Crown of Aragon merged by dynastic union with the Crown of Castile to form the Kingdom of Spain, the Kingdom of Valencia became a component realm of the...

is documented as the world's oldest extant flag, dating from 1238, even though the yellow part was originally white, but the red stripes design was the same.

The Government of Catalonia states about its official symbols that it may derive from 11th century or 12th century pre-heraldic symbols and the County of Barcelona's coat of arms: in which the yellow and red bars were vertical while in the flag, horizontal. The dynastyc coat of arms became also the one for the lands ruled by the counts. So, it is present in the flags and shields of the territories that once were part of the Crown of Aragon

Crown of Aragon

and also in the arms of Andorra

Andorra

Andorra , officially the Principality of Andorra , also called the Principality of the Valleys of Andorra, , is a small landlocked country in southwestern Europe, located in the eastern Pyrenees mountains and bordered by Spain and France. It is the sixth smallest nation in Europe having an area of...

and Sicily

Sicily

Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

among others.

Another version is that the Kingdom of Aragon

Kingdom of Aragon

The Kingdom of Aragon was a medieval and early modern kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula, corresponding to the modern-day autonomous community of Aragon, in Spain...

used and adopted the colours of the Papal States

Papal States

The Papal State, State of the Church, or Pontifical States were among the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...

in their own coat of arms

Coat of arms

as a public and notorious submission to the Pope

Pope

The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...

, something which the County of Barcelona would have followed shortly after according to this version. The colours for the city of Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

, which in those times was controlled by the Pope

Pope

The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...

were the same. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, the flag of the Holy See

Holy See

The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...

's Navy from the 12th century on consisted of two vertical red and yellow bands, bearing sometimes the tiara

Tiara

A tiara is a form of crown. There are two possible types of crown that this word can refer to.Traditionally, the word "tiara" refers to a high crown, often with the shape of a cylinder narrowed at its top, made of fabric or leather, and richly ornamented. It was used by the kings and emperors of...

and the keys. According to the Vatican

Holy See

official website, the yellow and red of the flag of the Holy See were two colors traditional of the Roman Senate and People. This ancient flag can still seen on the Capitoline Hill

Capitoline Hill

The Capitoline Hill , between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the seven hills of Rome. It was the citadel of the earliest Romans. By the 16th century, Capitolinus had become Capitolino in Italian, with the alternative Campidoglio stemming from Capitolium. The English word capitol...

in Rome

Rome

, near the Roman Forum

Roman Forum

The Roman Forum is a rectangular forum surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient city referred to this space, originally a marketplace, as the Forum Magnum, or simply the Forum...

. The Papal States changed its colours in 1808 to present yellow and white, while the City of Rome

Rome

sticks to the old colors to this day.

The Almogavars of the Catalan Company

Catalan Company

The Catalan Company of the East , officially the Magnas Societas Catalanorum, sometimes called the Grand Company and widely known as the Catalan Company, was a free company of mercenaries founded by Roger de Flor in the early 14th-century...

used a royal pennon with the arms of the Kings of Aragon when campaigning in the Byzantine Empire

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

. It was used as ensign of the Aragonese Navy from 1263 to 1516.

The plain version of this was used as official flag of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia during the Second Spanish Republic

Second Spanish Republic

The Second Spanish Republic was the government of Spain between April 14 1931, and its destruction by a military rebellion, led by General Francisco Franco....

and since the Spanish transition to democracy

Spanish transition to democracy

The Spanish transition to democracy was the era when Spain moved from the dictatorship of Francisco Franco to a liberal democratic state. The transition is usually said to have begun with Franco’s death on 20 November 1975, while its completion has been variously said to be marked by the Spanish...

. In its plain version, it is also used in the French département of Pyrénées-Orientales

Pyrénées-Orientales

, part of the former Crown of Aragon

Crown of Aragon

. It is also used as the flag of Provence

Provence

, a distinct region with historic ties to Aragon.

The blazon

Blazon

In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image...

of this standard version is Or, four bars Gules.

Modern usage

The senyera pattern is nowadays in the flag of four Spanish

Spain

autonomous communities: without any change for Catalonia

Catalonia

, and, with variations, for the territories of the former kingdoms of the Crown of Aragon: Aragon

Aragon

proper, the Balearic Islands

Balearic Islands

and Valencia (while the latter two are modern interpretations, the Valencian Senyera Coronada does originate back to medieval times

Kingdom of Valencia

).

The senyera is also the basis for the coat of arms

Coat of arms

of Pyrénées-Orientales

Pyrénées-Orientales

, the flag of the pays of Roussillon

Roussillon

Roussillon is one of the historical counties of the former Principality of Catalonia, corresponding roughly to the present-day southern French département of Pyrénées-Orientales...

in France, and one quarter of the Coat of arms of Andorra

Coat of arms of Andorra

. Dozens of municipalities belonging to these territories base their local flags on the Senyera as well.

Origin legends

According to a 14th century legend

Legend

A legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude...

, the flag dates back from the 9th century, when the four red bars were drawn, as an act of gratitude, on Wilfred I the Hairy's (Count of Barcelona) golden shield by king Charles the Bald

Charles the Bald

Charles the Bald , Holy Roman Emperor and King of West Francia , was the youngest son of the Emperor Louis the Pious by his second wife Judith.-Struggle against his brothers:He was born on 13 June 823 in Frankfurt, when his elder...

's fingers drenched with blood from the Count's war wounds prior to Wilfred's death in 897 during the siege of Barcelona by Lobo ibn Mohammed, the moor governor of Lleida

Lleida

Lleida is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital city of the province of Lleida, as well as the largest city in the province and it had 137,387 inhabitants , including the contiguous municipalities of Raimat and Sucs. The metro area has about 250,000 inhabitants...

. This legend would relate the emblem unambiguosly to the Counts of Barcelona title.

Romantic-driven

Romantic nationalism

Romantic nationalism is the form of nationalism in which the state derives its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs...

Catalan nationalists were particularly keen on this legend during the Renaixença

Renaixença

The Renaixença was an early 19th century late romantic revivalist movement in Catalan language and culture, akin to the Galician Rexurdimento or the Occitan Félibrige movements. The first stimuli of the movement date of the 1830s and 1840s, but the Renaixença stretches up into the 1880s, until it...

, in the 19th century, albeit it has always been recognized and divulged as such even in patriotic circles. Charles the Bald had died 20 years earlier, in 877.

Another version of this legend cites Louis the Pious

Louis the Pious

Louis the Pious , also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was the King of Aquitaine from 781. He was also King of the Franks and co-Emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813...

as the king drawing the bars during the conquest of Barcelona, in this version drawing them in a golden shield, but Louis died before Guifré was born. Also, Barcelona was conquered long before the events described on the legend. Another medieval variant of the legend features Ramon Berenguer painting the bars with his own blood on a yellow shield, with the yellow field of the shield being the arms of Aragon before his marriage.

Variations

There are a few variations in the official flags of other territories. For instance, in Aragon an extra coat-of-arms, in Balearic Islands a castle

Castle

A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...

in the canton

Canton (heraldry)

Canton is a square charge placed in the upper dexter corner. It is classed by some heraldic writers as one of the honorable ordinaries; but, strictly speaking, it is a diminutive of the Quarter, being two-thirds the area of that ordinary. However, in the roll of Henry III the quarter appears in...

, and in València a blue crowned fringe on the hoist.

Territorial Flags
Historical Flags
Political movements Flags

External links

Senyera History
butronmaker.blogspot.com Historic images

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Origin and history

Modern usage

Origin legends

Variations

See also

External links