Flag of the Community of Madrid
The flag of the Community of Madrid is regulated in article 2 of Law 2/1983, of December 23, which establishes the flag, coat of arms and anthem of said community autonomous from Spain. According to the text of the mentioned standard, it is crimson red in color (thus expressing its Castilian identity, as an essential feature), with seven white five-pointed stars, placed in the center of it and aligned in two rows, four on top and three on top. below. Its proportions are seven wide by eleven long.
Each of its stars represents the corresponding main stars of the constellation Ursa Major, which stands out on the Sierra del Guadarrama, thus dominating the sky of the lands that formed the old Madrid Council, created in times of the Reconquest and that included the territory located to the south of said mountain range, until reaching the Tagus river.
The shield of the Villa de Madrid would also end up with these seven stars on a blue background. Currently we can see how there is still an azure border loaded with the seven stars on it, which completely surrounds the figure of the bear leaning on the strawberry tree that bears the current coat of arms of the capital of Spain.
History
When having to adopt its own flag after the constitution of the Community of Madrid, which took place in 1983, it was decided to place the seven stars of the old Madrid council on a crimson red background; color that is from the banner of Castilla, an ancient Hispanic kingdom to which the lands of Madrid belonged. This indicates that it is a Castilian town and that its history has been Castilian, although obviously the economic and population development has been diverse. The stars have five points for the five provinces that surround the community of Madrid, since 1833: Ávila, Segovia, Guadalajara, Cuenca and Toledo.
Therefore, two ancient symbols linked to the Madrid council were used to provide a banner to a territory that reached its current configuration after the provincial organization of Spain created by the Minister of Public Works Javier de Burgos in 1833.
The definition of the flag was carried out by the poet Santiago Amón Hortelano, with a design by José María Cruz Novillo, commissioned by the first president of the Community of Madrid, Joaquín Leguina.
Before, Madrid was integrated into the New Castile or old Kingdom of Toledo; which is why, historically, it has always used the symbols of Castile as its own.
Controversy over the true color of the flag
According to the Statute of Autonomy of the Community of Madrid and Law 2/1983, of December 23, on the flag, shield and anthem of the Community of Madrid (or Law of Symbols), its regional flag is colored Crimson red.
Nevertheless, Decree 2/1984, of January 19, which develops the content of the Symbols Law, specifies that said flag is bright red, in its hue known as "red flag& #34;, which is the same one used on the Spanish flag (Royal Decree 441/1981, of February 27).
In addition, in the proposal elaborated by Santiago Amón Hortelano (1927-1988) and José María Cruz Novillo (born in 1936) it was clearly recommended that the bright or bright red color be used in the preparation of the flag of the Community of Madrid, as said color is virtually the truly representative of Castile and Castilian, for appearing both in the arms and in the old royal flag of the Crown of Castile.
And, finally, through the sketches (attached to their proposal) that they presented to the Governing Council of the Community of Madrid, these authors expressly raised the need for the same shade of red to be used in both the coat of arms as in the flag of the Community of Madrid.
Therefore, a discrepancy is observed between what is established in the Statute of Autonomy and the Law of Symbols of the Community of Madrid (use of crimson, scarlet or crimson red), on the one hand, and what is included in the original proposal and Decree 2/1984, by which said autonomous law is developed (effective use of the bright or bright red color), on the other.
Flag of the former Provincial Council of Madrid
The flag of the old Madrid Provincial Council was official until 1983 and was a green cloth with the coat of arms of the province; design, actually, very similar to that of the other Spanish provincial flags.
In the XIX century, the custom, quite widespread, occurred for Spanish provincial councils to use the coat of arms as their own of arms of the capital of the corresponding province. However, with the passage of time, and in order to individualize them, those of the other towns that were the headquarters of the judicial district that existed in their territory were also added to said arms (in the case of Madrid, Alcalá de Henares, Navalcarnero, San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Colmenar Viejo and Aranjuez, until 1983).