Flag of Asturias

The flag of Asturias is a blue field with a large yellow cross, the Cross of Victory, a little closer to the flagpole than to the centre. From the arms of the cross hang the capital alpha and the small omega.

How it came about

Asturias is an autonomous community of Spain. Its flag was adopted on 19 December 1990.

The cross is not a design invented for the flag: it is the Cross of Victory, a royal jewel over a thousand years old that is kept in Oviedo. The flag reproduces the drawing of the relic.

How it has changed

It has never changed. It was adopted in 1990 and there are no documented later modifications.

What it means

• Blue

  the background of the field, plain and with no stripes.

• Yellow cross

  with a height of two thirds that of the field. Its axis is at half the height of the field, counted from the flagpole, and it sits a little closer to the flagpole than to the centre.

• Letters

  from the arms hang the capital alpha and the small omega, in the same yellow.

Fun facts

1. A relic turned into a flag

   The Cross of Victory is a royal jewel over a thousand years old, kept in Oviedo. The flag does not interpret it: it reproduces its drawing. The letters hanging from the arms are those of the relic, the alpha and the omega.

2. The cross is shifted towards the flagpole

   The axis of the cross is at half the height of the field, but the cross itself is a little closer to the flagpole than to the centre. It is a detail that comes from the drawing of the jewel: the flag keeps the position of the relic.

3. The letters hang from the arms

   The capital alpha and the small omega are not written on the field: they hang from the two vertical arms of the cross. It is the way of drawing a relic that is worn on the chest.

Location