Flag of Andalusia

Flag of Andalusia, next to the flags of Spain and the European Union

The Andalusian flag, also known as the Arbonaida (from Andalusian Arabic: البُلَيْدة [albulaida] 'small land'), is defined according to article 3.1 of the Statute of Autonomy of Andalusia,

[...] it is the traditional one formed by three horizontal stripes —green, white and green — of equal width, as it was approved in the 1918 Round Assembly.

An institutional version is regulated in Law 3/1982, of December 21 (BOJA no. 1, of January 4, 1983), which indicates, in its article 3:

[...] The coat of arms of Andalusia will have to be found in: 1. The flags of Andalusia that wave on the outside or are displayed inside the headquarters of the statutory bodies of the Andalusian Community.

And the shield format on the flag is specified by Decree 213/1983, of October 19 (BOJA no. 89, of November 8), in its article 1:

[...] The coat of arms of Andalusia will appear on the flag of Andalusia, on both sides and in its center, and will have a height of two fifths of the width of the flag.

Color specifications

History

La Giralda, a former alminar of Seville's largest mosque.

The Alcazaba of Almeria.

The first reference that mentions a white and green flag waving in the Alcazaba of Almería dates back to the year 1051, appearing in a poem by Abu Asbag Ibn Arqam, poet from Guadix and vizier of King Almotacín of the Taifa of Almería, considered as one of the oldest on the European continent.

Henri Péres collects in this way in his work "The Splendor of Al-Ándalus" Ibn Arqam verses in which the first white and green are mentioned:

A green flag

that has made the white aurora a belt,
spread over you a wing of delight,
that she assures you of happiness

by giving you a triumphant spirit.

Abu Asbag Ibn Arqam

Later, in 1195, another reference to the colors white and green appears after the Almohad victory in the battle of Alarcos. According to some historical sources, a green ensign (the color of Islam) was waved over the minaret of the main mosque of Seville together with a white one to celebrate the victory.

Similarly, there is a legend according to which a saint who preached in the towns of the Atlas Mountains had a vision in which an angel revealed to him an empire united on the shores of the Strait of Gibraltar, with the green paradise of Al-Andalus and the white Maghreb of the Almohads, a legend probably inspired by the vision of the two banners on the minaret (Ramos, 1987).

On the other hand, although the banner of the Nasrid kingdom of Granada was red, of the twenty-two banners taken by the Count of Cabra from Boabdil in the Battle of Lucena in 1483, eighteen bore the colors green and white.

Also green was the banner that the Catholic Monarchs gave in Granada to the Old Guards of Castile. In 1521, the people of Seville, mutinying against the lack of food, walked the streets preceded by a green banner taken from the Moors by Alfonso X, and which was kept in the church of the Omnium Sanctorum, an episode known as the Green Banner Riot (Ramos, 1987).

During the Conspiracy of the Duke of Medina Sidonia in 1641, a vertically divided flag of green and white was the sign of the alliance between the Duke of Medina Sidonia and the Moors of Tahir Al-Hörr (El Halcón), which would rise in Eastern Andalusia^{[citation required]}. In 1642, after the revolt, Al-Hörr took the arbonaida as the flag of the rebellion.

Already in the 20th century, Blas Infante writes that the idea of the Andalusian flag was suggested to him by a protest demonstration by the women of Casares who carried a green and white flag, in two horizontal stripes. Despite this, he justified the choice of the green and white colors for the Andalusian flag by taking into account various historical references to its use in Andalusia, such as the aforementioned references to the Alcazaba of Almería and the battle of Alarcos.

The first time the Andalusian flag was raised was on October 23, 1932 on the balcony of the Seville Provincial Council. On October 30, it was reattached. Subsequently, other municipalities and councils of Andalusia followed.

Currently, the arbonaida is one of the official symbols of Andalusia, along with the coat of arms of Andalusia. Likewise, a reference to her appears in the Andalusian anthem, specifically in its first stanza:

The white and green flag
back after centuries of war
to say peace and hope
under the sun of our land.

Anthem of Andalusia

Other variations

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  Flag of the women of the Commune of Casares.

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  Revolutionary flag, used by the political party "Andalusian Nation and other leftist groups (communists, socialists, independentists).

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  Another nationalist flag with the 8-point star of Tartessos. Often used by the Andalucismo cultural.

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  Flag that the UCD of Granada proposed during the Transition for Eastern Andalusia.