Symbolism of the Portuguese national flag

The national flag was designed in 1910 by a commission appointed by the Provisional Government, and each element is explained in the report that the commission presented. Green and red are the colours of the Republic, the armillary sphere recalls the Discoveries, and the shield with the quinas and castles comes from the tradition of the monarchy. This guide summarises the meaning of the elements according to the Museum of the Presidency of the Republic.

The Flag Commission of 1910

According to the Museum of the Presidency of the Republic, the Provisional Government appointed a commission on 15 October 1910 to create the new flag. Its members were the painter Columbano Bordalo Pinheiro, the writer Abel Botelho, the journalist and politician João Chagas and two fighters of 5 October, Lieutenant Ladislau Pereira and Captain Afonso Palla. On 29 October the commission completed the report justifying its design, and on 29 November the Provisional Government approved the green and red flag.

The colours

According to the museum, the blue of the monarchy’s flag was left out because it was associated with the cult of Our Lady of the Conception. The choice was contested: between the Government’s approval and the decree of the Constituent National Assembly, the "flag quarrel" set the supporters of blue and white against the supporters of green and red in the newspapers.

The armillary sphere

The report describes the Manueline armillary sphere as "the eternal emblem of our adventurous genius, of our dreaming and epic existence", a direct reference to the age of the Discoveries. According to the drawing instructions of the Presidency of the Republic’s archive, the sphere is a highly stylised depiction of the navigational instrument of the same name, with rings representing two meridians, the Equator and the Ecliptic, placed for graphic harmony rather than astronomical accuracy.

The shield, the quinas and the castles

The shield of the national arms rests on the sphere. According to the museum, the commission’s report did not dwell on the meaning of the arms, stating only their link to the founding of the nation and the winning of independence. The museum summarises the traditional explanations:

• The quinas: five blue escutcheons, each with five white bezants. Tradition links them to the legend of Ourique: King Afonso Henriques is said to have added the escutcheons in memory of the five Moorish kings defeated in the battle. Later, the explanation that the bezants represent the five wounds of Christ became widespread.
• The seven castles: said to represent the incorporation of the Algarve, whose arms bore castles. King João II is said to have fixed their number. The 1910 report saw them as "one of the most decorative and most energetic symbols of national integrity and independence".

The Presidency’s drawing instructions specify that the castles are always seven, yellow and with three towers, and that replacing them with a single tower is incorrect.

The colours in the official design

The law describes the colours in words, with the shade of green prescribed as "dark green". The Presidency of the Republic’s archive lists the colours used in the official image it provides, for example green PMS 349 and red PMS 485, together with vector files for reproducing the flag. The shape and proportions are in the guide to flag sizes.

From revolution to everyone’s flag

According to the Museum of the Presidency of the Republic, for many people the new flag remained linked to the republican revolution for several years, and it was the First World War that united the Portuguese under the new symbol. The history of flagpoles and flags in Portugal is told in the guide to the history of the flagpole, and the dates linked to the flag in the guide to flags on holidays.