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Historical Flags (Navarre, Spain)

Last modified: 2015-07-29 by ivan sache
Keywords: navarre | historical | pennant: ogival | chains:red |
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Navarre (Navarra), Late 14th Century

[Navarre in the Book of All Kingdoms (Spain, Late 14th Century)]
image by Eugene Ipavec, 08 Apr 2009

The next flag mentioned and illustrated in the Book of All Kingdoms [e9s50] is Navarre, depicted in the 2005 illustrated transcription [f0f05] as a BoA in the ogival shape default and showing unusual colors: white background (instead of red), red chains (instead of golden), rings filled with yellow and stylized to circles and absent chain segments making up the orle. Apart from the weird coloring, this design agrees with the (unclear) reports we have in the Navarre historical pages.

The anonymous author escaped the chore of describing the flag, stating only that

«el rey »de Navarra« á por señales estas que se siguen»
"The king (of Navarra) has for signs these which follow."

António Martins-Tuválkin, 07 Nov 2007


Former Province of Navarre

The Diputación Provincial [provincial council] was an administrative body which dissappeared in the early 1980s in those Autonomous Communities which comprise only one province. Note that although the administrative body is now the Autonomous Community, the province still exists.

Antonio Gutiérrez, 18 Nov 1999

The former flag of Navarre region and/or province showed the Laureate Cross of Saint Ferdinand [the Spanish highest military decoration for valour] behind the coat-of-arms.

José Carlos Alegría, 22 Nov 1999

The region of Navarre (and province of Pamplona) had before 1916 a plain dark red flag; the coat-of-arms was added in 1916. Similar to the current design with minor changes in the shape of crown and shield. On November 8th 1937 a military decoration was added to the coat-of-arms [Laureate Cross of Saint Ferdinand]. In 1977 an unofficial dark red flag with chains (no coat-of-arms) was widely used.

Navarre Flag Proposal, late 1970s
[Navarre Flag Proposal, late 1970s (Navarre, Spain)]
image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 22 Nov 2007

Horizontal red-yellow-green (5:2:1) was proposed by the governing party UCD [Unión de Centro Democrático, 1976-1982] but never adopted.

Jaume Ollé, 27 Nov 1999

The kingdom of Navarre used a red eagle, substituted on 1212 by the red chains wich still stand today as their coat of arms. On 16 July 1212 the king of Navarra, Sancho VII el Fuerte, took part in the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, south of Spain, nowadays Jaén province, far from the boundaries of the kingdom, between the territories of Castile and Leon and the Moors, being invited by the Pope Inocentium III to join the Allied Coalition instaured by the Crusade along with Alonso VIII, who commanded Castile and Pedro II of Aragon, except Alfonso IX of Leon, against the Moorish King (Caliph or Emir) of the Almohad dynasty, known as Miramamolin. The Moorish king inspired an arabic coalition and camped on Las Navas de Tolosa, and had the royal tent surrounded by a gold chain, which, assaulted by Knights of Navarre, was seized and put into their new coat of arms.

Ramón Otegui, 05 Sep 2002