A carmine flag with four castles and seven crowns: that of the Region of Murcia sums up the history of an old frontier kingdom.
Every fact about the flag, each with what it means.
Normal flagFIAV symbol: the form of the flag.
CivilFIAV symbol: who may fly the flag.YesIt carries the coat of arms on the cloth.The flag in the words of vexillology and heraldry.
It is a rectangular field with a 2:3 ratio in carmine, plain, with no divisions. In the upper corner by the flagpole there are four golden castles; in the lower corner at the fly, the edge opposite the flagpole, seven golden crowns.
Each element and how many of the 1,390 flags in the catalogue carry it. In yellow, the rarest.
Every date in its story, at a glance.
Alfonso X granted five in 1281
During the Transition, the president of the Regional Council of Murcia, Antonio Pérez Crespo,…
The project was approved on 26 March 1979 and was hoisted for the first time on 5 May of that year
Later, the 1982 Statute of Autonomy made it the official flag
How it was born, how it has changed and what it means.
The flag of the Region of Murcia is a single colour, a dark red leaning towards purple, with four castles and seven golden crowns. It is a heraldic flag: instead of new stripes or drawings, it gathers pieces from the historical coat of arms of the city of Murcia.
During the Transition, the president of the Regional Council of Murcia, Antonio Pérez Crespo, commissioned in 1978 a committee of historians and senators to study a flag for the region. The project was approved on 26 March 1979 and was hoisted for the first time on 5 May of that year, from the balcony of the Regional Council, in the city of Murcia. Later, the 1982 Statute of Autonomy made it the official flag.
The flag of 1979 is the one still used today. Unofficial versions exist, such as a simplified one or several Murcian nationalist flags, but they are not those of the region.
Every element has its historical explanation:
Carmine colour
the so-called “Cartagena red”, a tone between red and purple that recalls the port city.
Four castles
the frontier character of the old Kingdom of Murcia, situated between the Crown of Aragon, Castile, the Kingdom of Granada and the Mediterranean Sea.
Seven crowns
those of the historical coat of arms of the city of Murcia and of its kingdom. Alfonso X granted five in 1281, Pedro I added a sixth in 1361 and Philip V the seventh in 1709.
The crowns were added over the centuries as rewards. Alfonso X gave five, because Murcia was the fifth kingdom conquered by Castile; the sixth and the seventh arrived for Murcia’s loyalty in two wars.
The chosen colour is called “Cartagena red”, a tone more purple than the usual red.
It was hoisted for the first time on 5 May 1979, from a balcony of the building that had been the Provincial Council of Murcia.
Test what you have read about the flag of Region of Murcia.
Text based on the article “Bandera de la Región de Murcia” from the Spanish Wikipedia, published under the licence CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sources consulted:
Flag image: Autor desconocido, Wikimedia Commons · CC0.
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