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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. 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. 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. Sun of May The sun, called the 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). It has 16 straight and 16 waved sunbeams. In 1978 the sun colour was specified to be golden yellow (amarillo oro), to have an inner diameter of 10 cm, and an outer diameter of 25 cm (the diameter of the sun equals the height of the white stripe. The sun's face is 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'. Creation
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 It was subsequently decided to be part of the regular flag afterwards, and thus the sun no longer represents war.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. Influence of the Argentine Flag on the flags of other Countries The argentine commander Louis Michel Aury (other way of writing: Luis Aury) used the Argentine flag as a model for the blue-white-blue flag of the first independent state in central America, which was created 1818 in the island Providencia in front of the east coast of today's Nicaragua. This state existed until approximately 1821, before Colombia took over control of these islands. Somewhat later (1823) this flag was again the model for the flag of the United Provinces of Central America (Provincias Unidas del Centro de América), a confederation of the central american states of Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, that existed from 1823 to 1838. After that the five countries became independent but the main shape of their flags was the same. Aurora (Sunrise) By: H. C. Quesada, L. Illica, H. Panizza. Salve Argentina (Long live Argentina) By: Leopoldo Corretjer. Mi Bandera (My Flag) Lyrics: Juan Chassaing Music: Juan Imbroisi 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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