Ikurriña

The ikurrina flag (in Basque)^[1] or ikurriña (in Spanish)^[2] is a Basque symbol and the official flag of the Basque Country Autonomous Community of Spain.

Design

Similar in pattern to the Union Flag, the flag was designed by the founders of the Basque Nationalist Party EAJ-PNV, Luis and Sabino Arana, and is commonly regarded as the national but unofficial symbol of Euskal Herria, or the wider Basque Country. It is widely seen in the French Basque Country and forms part of the unofficial flag of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, the French overseas community in North America that was settled by French Basque and also many Spanish Basque sailors. The Ikurriña is also the flag of the Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ-PNV). A controversy exists because at first it was only the symbol of a section of the party (the section of Biscay) and many persons thought that another flag must represent the territory.

The red ground symbolizes the Biscayan people (the race); the green saltire might represent the Oak of Guernica, a symbol of the old laws of Biscay, or Fueros; and over them, the white cross, God's symbol of Basque Catholic devotion. Thus, red, white and green have become the national Basque colors.

History

The flag was designed in 1894 to represent the province of Biscay in a set of one flag for each of the seven Basque provinces and one for the whole country; however, since PNV activity was scarce outside of Biscay, only the Biscayne flag was publicly recognized. It was hoisted for the first time in the "Euzkeldun Batzokija", the club that preceded EAJ-PNV. The party adopted it in 1895 and, in 1933, proposed it as the flag of the whole Basque Country.

In 1936, because the Basque people had accepted the "ikurriña" and at the suggestion of the socialist counselor Aznar, the Basque Government adopted it as the flag of the Basque Autonomous Region. The regime of General Franco prohibited it in 1938 (it continued to be used in the Basque departements of France). It became a symbol of defiance – the first actions of the clandestine group ETA involved placing flags in public places.

During the Spanish transition to democracy, it was legalized in 1977. Two years later, the Basque Government turned to adopt it as flag of the Basque A.C., and it has also remained as an unofficial flag for some sectors of Basque society in the rest of the provinces.

Name

The name is a neologism by the Aranas from ikur ("mark, sign", compare to Catalan senyera). In Basque, it has the generic meaning of "flag," but specially the one of the Basque Country, as defined by the Euskaltzaindia (Royal Academy of the Basque Language).^[1] The original Biscayne spelling of the Aranas was ikuŕiñ (the final -a is the Basque definite article). The modern standard Basque spelling is ikurrin.

See also

• The arrano beltza ("black eagle") is another flag often displayed by Basque leftist nationalists besides Ikurriña.
• The flag of Navarre is also used by a sector of nationalism that considers the kingdom of Navarre as a precedent of a future Basque state. The three flags can be found side by side on some events.
• The modern flag of Saint Pierre et Miquelon (French North America) recognizes its Basque heritage by including an ikurriña.
• Gallery of flags with crosses
• Basque people

References

• Apuntes para la historia del nacionalismo vasco: las banderas de los ex-Estados históricos vascos o regiones autónomas, Luis de Arana Goiri, 1930. Scanned pages of a typewritten manuscript.
• Basque Country (Spain) at Flags of the World

External links

• www.ikurrinamunduan.com Photographs in which the Ikurriña appears outside the borders of Euskal Herria.
• The French regiment des Cars used a similar flag in the 18th century.