Flag of Argentina
The national flag of the Argentine Republic, often referred to as the Argentine flag, is a triband, composed of three equally wide horizontal bands coloured baby blue and white. There are multiple interpretations on the reasons for those colors. The flag was created by Manuel Belgrano, in line with the creation of the Cockade of Argentina, and was first raised at the city of Rosario on February 27, 1812, during the Argentine War of Independence. The National Flag Memorial was later built on the site. The First Triumvirate did not approve the use of the flag, but the Asamblea del Año XIII allowed the use of the flag as a war flag. It was the Congress of Tucumán which finally designated it as the national flag, in 1816. A yellow Sun of May was added to the center in 1818.
The full flag featuring the sun is called the Official Ceremonial Flag. The flag without the sun is considered the Ornamental Flag. 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 Ceremonial Flag is the civil, state, and war flag and ensign, while the Ornamental Flag is an alternative civil flag and ensign.
There is controversy of the true colour of the first flag between historians and the descendants of Manuel Belgrano between blue and pale blue.
Design
Popular belief attributes the colors to those of the sky, clouds and the sun; some anthems to the flag like "Aurora" or "Salute to the flag" state so as well. However, historians usually disregard this idea, and attribute them to loyalty towards the House of Bourbon.After the May Revolution, the first times of the Argentine War of Independence, the Triumvirate claimed to be acting on behalf of the Spanish King Ferdinand VII, who was prisoner of Napoleon Bonaparte during the Peninsular War. Whether such loyalty was real or a trick to conceal independentism is a topic of dispute. The creation of a new flag with those colors would have been then a way to denote autonomy, while keeping the relations with the captive king alive.
Sun of May
The sun is called the Sun of May because it is a replica of an engraving on the first Argentine coin, approved in 1813, whose value was eight escudos. It has 16 straight and 16 waved sunbeams.In 1978 the sun color was specified to be golden yellow, to have an inner diameter of 10 cm, and an outer diameter of 25 cm. It features 32 rays, alternately wavy and straight, and from 1978 it must be embroidered in the "Official Flag Ceremony".
Shape and size
In 2002, the Instituto Argentino de Normalización y Certificación defined the flag's official proportions as 10:16, or 5:8. It is one of five national flags that use the ratio 5:8, the others being Guatemala, Palau, Poland, and Sweden.From 1978, the flag's official proportions was 9:14, and its official size was 0.9 by 1.4 meters, which each stripe being 30 centimeters high. In the center stripe there is an emblem known as the Sun of May, a golden sun. Historian Diego Abad de Santillán claimed that the Sun of May was a representation of the Inca sun god Inti.
Flags with proportions of 1:2 and 2:3 are also in use.
Colors
The colors are officially defined using the CIE 1976 standard:The following are given for computer, textile, print and plastic use:
Colours scheme | Sky Blue | Yellow | Brown |
| RGB | R: 116, G: 172, B: 223 | R: 246, G: 180, B: 14 | R: 133, G: 52, B: 10 |
| Hexadecimal | #74ACDF | #F6B40E | #85340A |
| CMYK | C: 100%, M: 68%, Y: 0%, K: 37% | C: 0%, M: 18%, Y: 100%, K: 0% | C: 16%, M: 0%, Y: 10%, K: 24% |
| Pantone | 16-4132 TC | 14-1064 TC | 18-1441 TC |
| Pantone | 284 C / 284 U | 1235 C / 116 U | 483 C / 483 U |
| Pantone | Q 300-4-1 | Q 030-2-1 | Q 120-2-4 |
| Number | 75AADB | FCBF49 | 843511 |
The Spanish word celeste is used to describe the colour of the blue stripes.
History
Flags of Spain and first flag of United Provinces of the Río de la Plata
The first flags used in the territory of modern Argentina were those associated with the Spanish crown. The last formally used Spanish flag was a red and yellow one, established by King Charles III in 1785 and used mainly for naval and military purposes.When the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata became independent in the May Revolution of 1810, they continued to use Spanish flag. This was due to the political position that the new government was acting on behalf of King Ferdinand VII of Spain, who was then a prisoner of Napoleon during the Peninsular War. The yellow and red flag that flew over the seat of government in the fort of Buenos Aires is currently kept in the National Historical Museum. This flag does not maintain the proportions imposed by Charles III, as the three stripes are the same width. The Spanish flag was finally abandoned after the formal declaration of independence on 9 July 1816, being replaced by the blue and white flags created in 1812 by General Manuel Belgrano.
War of Independence
The origin of colors
The light blue and white colors were used on the cockade before they were used on the flag. The origin of the colours of the cockade and the reasons for their election cannot be accurately established. Theories include the symbolism of the House of Bourbon, especially the ribbon of the Order of Charles III. Another version speaks of the colors of the then unofficial Buenos Aires coat of arms, where blue meant the sky and silver, later changed to white, meant the waters of La Plata. Another possible source of colours is the plume of the Los Patricios during the British invasion of 1806 and 1807.Belgrano flag
On 26 February 1812, General Manuel Belgrano wrote to the government of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata to propose the creation of a national flag, arguing that the colors of the recently adopted national cockade should also be reflected in the banners flown by patriot forces. In his letter, he noted the problem of using flags identical to those of the enemy, and proposed adopting distinctive symbols that would reflect the new political reality. Without waiting for a formal response, Belgrano inaugurated the following day an artillery battery called "Independencia" on Espinillo Island in the Paraná River, near present-day Rosario, and presented the new flag in a ceremony. Local tradition has it that the first flag was sewn by María Catalina Echevarría de Vidal and raised by Cosme Maciel, a civilian sailor. In a second letter sent the same day, Belgrano informed the government of the events, describing the raising of a flag made in white and light blue, matching the cockade. On that day, Belgrano said the following words:The exact color scheme of the first flag remains a subject of debate, due to the fact that, in describing the flag in a non-intuitive way, he first mentioned white. Some historians suggest that this first flag was with two stripes with white above light blue. In his first letter, Belgrano described the location of the first raising of the flag as the "Libertad" artillery battery. In a letter dated July 18, 1812, he corrected that the flag was flown at the Independencia battery, not the unfinished Libertad battery.
In early March 1812, the First Triumvirate ordered General Manuel Belgrano to abandon the new white and light blue flag, since they were still acting in the name of Ferdinand VII. Belgrano, who continued the campaign of the Army of the North, was unable to receive this order. After reaching San Salvador de Jujuy, Belgrano celebrated the second anniversary of the revolution on 25 May 1812. On that day, Canon Juan Ignacio Gorriti blessed the white and light blue flag in the cathedral. Belgrano then ordered his soldiers to swear allegiance to this banner, which he called the "national flag".
Image:Bandera de la Provincia de Jujuy.svg|thumb|250px|Flag of the Civil Freedom of Argentina
It is not known whether it was the same flag that first flew in Rosario or a different one, since military tradition dictated that flags remain with military units, not commanders. On May 29, Belgrano sent a letter informing the government of the ceremony. In response, he was reprimanded by the Triumvirate for using the new flag without authorization. In his response on July 18, Belgrano explained that he was unaware of the previous ban and repeated that the flag was white and light blue. Despite this, the Army of the North continued to use the flag, including in the victorious Battle of Tucumán on 24 September 1812.
In early February 1813, during the Army of the North’s advance toward Salta, General Manuel Belgrano received orders from the Assembly of Year XIII to have his troops swear allegiance. On 13 February 1813, after crossing the Salado River, later known also as the "River of the Oath". Belgrano led a solemn ceremony in which the troops swore obedience to the Assembly under the white-and-light-blue flag. In that ceremony, the flag was carried by Major General Eustoquio Díaz Vélez, preceded by Colonel Martín Rodríguez and Belgrano himself, escorted by granaderos playing music.
On February 20, 1813, the Battle of Salta was fought, in which Belgrano achieved a complete victory. After the battle Eustoquio Díaz Vélez placed the flag on the balcony of the Cabildo, and the trophies captured from the royalists were placed in the Chapter House. Díaz Vélez, appointed by Belgrano as military governor of the province of Salta del Tucumán, was the first official to use the blue-and-white flag.
While stationed in the city of San Salvador de Jujuy on 23 May, Belgrano presented the residents with a white cloth bearing the coat of arms of the Assembly of the Year XIII, which is today known as the flag of the Civil Freedom.
The Army of the North used light blue and white flags until its destruction at Ayohuma in modern-day Bolivia at 14 November 1813. After the defeat, two of the flags used in this campaign were hidden in a chapel in the village of Macha to avoid capture by royalist forces. These flags remained hidden until their accidental discovery in 1885. Both banners consist of three horizontal stripes of white and light blue, with one having a white stripe between two blue stripes and the other having a blue stripe between the white stripes. One was returned to Argentina and is currently located at the National Museum of History in Buenos Aires, while the other remained in Bolivia and is kept at the Casa de la Libertad in Sucre, Bolivia.