• What does the flag of Brazil mean?
• History of the Brazilian flag
• Meaning of colors, shapes and stars
• State flags of Brazil
• Flag Day
• shield of brazil

We explain what the Brazilian flag means and its changes throughout its history. In addition, the shield of Brazil and the Day of the Flag.

The current flag of Brazil is a recreation of the flag of the Empire of Brazil created in 1820.

What does the flag of Brazil mean?

known as Auriverde, the Flag of Brazil, the main of the patriotic symbols of this nation South American, contains a symbology and a set of references that place it among the most striking flags of the continent. It is made up of a green rectangle (7 to 10 ratio) on which there is a horizontal yellow rhombus with a blue circle inside. Inside the blue circle is a wavy white stripe containing the motto order and progress ("Order and progress" in Portuguese) and also twenty-seven white stars distributed in its lower half.

As is common in Latin American flags, the meaning of the Brazilian flag is strongly associated with the founding of the nation during the 19th century, since its appearance sought to demarcate the young Brazilian nation from its former colonial condition, dependent on the Portuguese crown. In fact, the current flag of Brazil is a contemporary recreation of the flag of the Empire of Brazil created in 1820 by Jean-Baptiste Debret, and was established when the republic Brazilian in 1889.

The use of the Brazilian flag is solemn in its country and must be used in strict accordance with the proportions and the established design, and can be hoisted from dawn to dusk, or even at night, as long as it is properly lit.

History of the Brazilian flag

The first Brazilian flags emerged during the era of colonial Brazil, that is, when its political and economic administration was in Portuguese hands. The first of these emerged in 1645 and was typical of the then principality of Brazil, but served as inspiration for the creation in 1808 of the flag of the Kingdom of Brazil, when the colonial authorities fled from Portugal occupied by Napoleon I to settle in their colonies americans

Until the proclamation of Brazilian independence in 1822, the local flag consisted of variations of this same motif, combining blue and white with the Portuguese royal coat of arms.

The flag of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarve was created in 1808.

The actual history of the Brazilian flag has its beginning in that same year, at the end of 1822, when Pedro I announced the separation of the ties that united Brazil with the Portuguese metropolis. The nascent Empire of Brazil, then, assumed as its own a flag in which a rectangular green pavilion already appeared (typical of the house of Braganza, to which Don Pedro belonged) and a yellow rhombus in a horizontal position (typical of the house of the Habsburgs, family of Empress Maria Leopoldina).

The first flag of the Empire of Brazil took the green from the house of Braganza, family of Pedro I.

In the center of this yellow diamond was the imperial shield of Brazil, which combined a red cross with other traditional colonial emblems, a crown at the top of the shield and, for the first time, nineteen white stars in a thin blue circle, representing the first provinces independent. In 1853 another star would be added by decree, when the province of Paraná was created. On the sides of the shield were two plants: coffee and tobacco, tied at the base of the shield with a yellow and green bow.

The empire Brazil lasted until 1889, when military and civil pressures overthrew the monarchy and proclaimed the Republic, so that the imperial flag had to be replaced by a republican flag, which was initially a kind of Brazilian translation of the American flag, since initially the nation would be called the Republic of the United States of Brazil.

Therefore, it was a flag of rectangular stripes alternating between green and yellow, except for a blue box in the upper left corner, within which were 21 white stars.

The first republican flag of Brazil was a Brazilian version of the American flag.

This flag, however, was only used from November 15 to November 19, 1889. From then on, certain changes proposed by Raimundo Teixeira Mendes, Miguel Lemos and Manuel Pereira Reis, members of the Positivist Church, were applied to it. great national influence at the time.

Thus, the second republican flag of Brazil was obtained, adopted by decree of the Provisional Government and hoisted for the first time in Rio de Janeiro. This last design would be the pattern of the current flag, to which since 1992 six stars were added, thus reaching a total of 27.

The current Brazilian flag pattern was used since 1889.

Meaning of colors, shapes and stars

The set of elements of the Brazilian flag reflect its rich history and the cultural elements that marked its origin, in such a way that it is convenient to study them separately:

• The colors. The dominant colors of the Brazilian flag are yellow and green, each of which represents the houses of the first emperors of Brazil, Dom Pedro and María Leopoldina, who belonged to the house of Braganza (green) and the Habsburgs ( yellow) respectively. By using these colors, the new empire moved away from the traditional black and white of European empires, and the blue and white of the Portuguese crown.

Furthermore, these two colors symbolized the fertility and abundance of the New World, which in one power agriculture like the Brazilian, translated into wealth and prosperity. For its part, the blue of the circle refers to the celestial vault of Rio de Janeiro at the time when the brazilian independence. 

• The forms. The shapes of the Brazilian flag are inherited from its colonial flags: the usual rectangle in Western flags, and the rhombus in the center crowned no longer by the imperial emblem, but by the celestial vault of Rio de Janeiro as it was on November 15, 1889, when the republic was proclaimed. The 27 stars, each one of which represents a Brazilian province of the federation, appear forming real constellations and reproducing the Brazilian celestial vault, which extends to the northern hemisphere.
• The inscription. The central inscription in the blue circle of the flag, "order and progress", belongs to the Positivist Church and pays tribute to the contribution of thought positivist at the founding of the Brazilian republic. It comes from the Auguste Comte quote: L'amour pour principe et l'ordre pour base; le progresses pour but (“Love as a principle, order as a base, progress as an end” in French).

State flags of Brazil

Some state flags were inspired by the first republican flag of Brazil.

In addition to the flag of the Brazilian republic, which identifies the entire federation, each of the provinces of Brazil has its own state flag, so there are 26 provincial flags and one of the Federal District. The difference in styles, colors and shapes between these flags is very significant, since some were inspired by the first republican flag of Brazil, while others point to variations of the second.

Flag Day

In Brazil, Flag Day is celebrated on November 19 of each year, and on those days the flag is solemnly raised and lowered at 12 noon and 6 p.m.

shield of brazil

The Coat of Arms of Brazil was created jointly with the republican flag in 1889.

The Coat of Arms of Brazil is another of its patriotic symbols, created jointly with the republican flag in 1889. It consists of a red, green and yellow star, a symbol of national unity, which has a light blue circle with 20 white stars in the center . All crossed by the edge of a sword pointed up, which represents the Justice, and surrounded by two plants on its sides: one for coffee and the other for tobacco, the main agricultural products of Brazil in 1889.

The set rests on a background of yellow stripes, like beams of light from a rising sun, which symbolizes the birth of a luminous republic. At the foot of the shield, a blue ribbon bears the inscription: "Federal Republic of Brazil" and "November 15, 1889", the date on which the republic was proclaimed.