Artigas flag
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- January 13, 1815 (as flag of Federal League)
- September 1820 (as flag of Republic of Entre Ríos)
- February 18, 1952 (as flag of Uruguay)
- March 13, 1987 (as flag of Entre Ríos)
 | |
| Proportion | 2:3 |
|---|---|
| Adopted |
|
| Designed by | José Gervasio Artigas and José María de Roo |
 | |
| Use | Early version |
| Adopted | c. 1914 |
The Artigas flag is a flag created in the early 19th century by the South American libertador and political leader José Gervasio Artigas. It was originally designed to be the national flag of the Federal League, a confederation of provinces that briefly existed between 1815 and 1820.
Since 1952, it has been one of the national flags of Uruguay and since 1987, the flag of the Argentine province of Entre Ríos.[1] The flag consists of a white horizontal stripe between two blue and red bend. The blue and white stripes come from the flag created by Manuel Belgrano, while the red was added as a symbol of the fight for federalism.
Origin
In 1810, as a result of the May Revolution, the Viceroyalty of Rio de la Plata declared independence, becoming the United Provinces of South America, but for some time continued to use the Spanish flag. On 27 February 1812, Manuel Belgrano designed a flag for his soldiers with two blue stripes on the edges and a white stripe in the middle and proposed it as the flag of the United Provinces, however, due to the complicated situation, the Primera Junta officially fought on behalf of the Spanish King Ferdinand VII, who was in captivity to Napoleon.
In 1814 José Gervasio Artigas, the leader of the Provincia Oriental, began to organize the League of the Free Peoples. The first flag was created before the League was formed and was based on the Belgano flag. The flag consisted of horizontal blue-white-blue bands, with each blue band having a horizontal red band inside. The blue stripes were to symbolize the two banks of the Río de la Plata.
Later, Artigas changed the two red stripes to one diagonal one, to clearly distinguish his flags from similar flags of his opponents. The final design was not created directly by Artigas but by José María de Roo, a customs official from Montevideo and an expert in heraldry. De Roo likely served as a consultant to Artigas, though the exact nature of their collaboration and the extent of Artigas's influence on the design remain unclear.[2][3]
Federal League
The new flag was first raised at Artigas's military camp in Arerunguá on 13 January 1815. In Montevideo it was flown for the first time on 26 March by order of the military governor of Montevideo, Colonel Fernando Otorgués, and in Entre Ríos on 13 March. Over time, the flag spread throughout the League. In 1820, after defeating the Unitarian forces, the governors of the provinces of Entre Ríos, Santa Fe, and Corrientes signed the Treaty of Pilar with Buenos Aires and reunited with the United Provinces, thus dissolving the Federal League. Faced with the Portuguese invasion and conflict with his former allies, Artigas was defeated and fled to Paraguay. Pursuing Artigas, the governor of Entre Ríos, Francisco Ramírez, captured the city of Corrientes on 19 September, declaring himself governor of the province of Corrientes and all of Mesopotamia.[2]
After the fall of the League
Ramírez created a Republic of Entre Ríos from the territories he controlled in September 1820. Despite the title "Republic" and its practical independence, Ramírez had no intention of seceding from the United Provinces. Entre Ríos quickly came into conflict with Estanislao López, governor of Santa Fe. Since Ramírez used Artigas' old flag as his own, Santa Fe abandoned it and adopted its own design. The republic came to an end a year later when, during the campaign in Santa Fe, Ramírez was betrayed by one of his commanders, Lucio Norberto Mansilla, and then killed after being captured by López's troops.[2]
After the restoration of the province of Entre Ríos by Governor Lucio Mansilla in 1821, on 12 March 1822, the provincial congress banned the use of the federal flag and any other flags used and instead introduced new symbols. Following Mansilla's resignation in 1824, during the government of Juan León Solas, the Ramírez flag informally returned to the province along with the national flag, although it was not formalized due to factional fighting in the following years.[4][5]
Dark blue, white and red were widely used by the Federalist Party throughout its existence, but the Artigas flag itself was used less and less compared to the Rosas flag and the provincial flags.
Modern Use
The Artigas flag remained one of the patriotic symbols in Uruguay, but it lacked official status until the 18 February 1952 when a decree came into force which, among other things, officially recognized the Artigas flag and the flag of the Treinta y Tres as national symbols amongst the national flag, the coat of arms and the national anthem. The law states that all public buildings, offices and ships must fly the three official flags in national holidays.
On 5 March 1987, Governor Sergio Montiel instituted the Artigas flag as the flag of the Entre Ríos province in Argentina.[6]
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