| Name | Tricolor |
|---|---|
| Proportion | 3:5 |
| Adopted | 27 April 1931 |
| Variant flag of Second Spanish Republic | |
| Name | Bandera de la marina mercante (Civil Ensign) |
| Proportion | 3:5 |
The Flag of the Second Spanish Republic, also known as Spanish: la tricolor, was the official flag of Spain between 1931 and 1939 and the flag of the Spanish Republican government in Exile until 1977.
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It began to be used on April 27, 1931, thirteen days after municipal elections results led to the abolition of the monarchy and the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic.
This same flag had been previously displayed by certain Republican groups as an alternative to the red-and-yellow flag that was identified with the Bourbon monarchy in Spain. As a result of this previous use, the young republic proclaimed in 1931 eagerly adopted this symbol.
The Republican flag was officially adopted on April 27 and formally presented to the army of the nation on May 6 with the following words[1]: "The national uprising against tyranny, victorious since April 14, has hoisted a flag that is invested by means of the feelings of the people with the double representation of the hope of freedom and of its irreversible triumph."
El alzamiento nacional contra la tiranía, victorioso desde el 14 de abril, ha enarbolado una enseña investida por el sentir del pueblo con la doble representación de una esperanza de libertad y de su triunfo irrevocable.
The Republican flag was formed by three horizontal bands of the same width, red, yellow and murrey. The National Flag would have the Spanish Republican coat of arms at the center (quarterly of Castile, Leon, Aragon and Navarre, Enté en point for Granada, stamped by a mural crown between the two Pillars of Hercules). This coat of arms originated in 1868 and had been used then by the Provisional Government and later by the First Spanish Republic. The civil ensign or merchant flag would be a simple tricolor without the coat of arms. There was also a military version of the flag with different, almost square, dimensions.
The flag of the Second Spanish Republic was also used by the Spanish Maquis between the end of the Spanish Civil War and the early 1960s. A version of this flag was used in the 1970s by the radical anti-Francoist group FRAP.
Presently the Republican flag is used by a few, largely marginal, political groups, like the Communist Party of Spain (Reconstituted).
The flag had three colors, red, yellow and murrey, Spanish: morado.[2]
La bandera de la República española es roja, amarilla y morada...
The purpose of the third color was to represent Castile and León, the proverbial "Pendón Morado" ancient armorial banner of Castile in the flag's colours, while the existing red and yellow represented the territories of the former Crown of Aragon. These three colors symbolized a new era for Spain in which no part of Spain was excluded and every Spaniard would be represented.[3]
Since the restoration of the monarchy in the last quarter of the 20th century there are authors that openly contradict former Spanish historians by proclaiming that the Castilian "Pendón Morado" never existed, that it was actually red.[4] The controversy is part of a probable attempt to demonstrate that the colors of the flag of the Second Spanish Republic are wrong. Still, sound historical documents prove that murrey-colored banners were formerly used in Castile & Leon.[5]
Since it is an unusual color for a flag, in practice the morado color of the lower band could be Violet, Purple (Purpure) or even Lilac, according to the available materials and dyes in each location.[6]
