Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Flag of Brazil

Learning about the Brazilian flag...

As the country's most popular national symbol, Brazil's flag is an explosion of colors and sensuality; and it so well suits the nation it represents.

I've posted here some general and specific information about the flag of Brazil, including, a video of The Brazilian flag anthem.

If you would like to read some facts and figures about Brazil, read my post Facts about Brazil, or learn some popular brazilian names on Brazilian Baby Names.

And if you are interested in learning Brazilian Portuguese, visit my post Learn Portuguese on Youtube

Enjoy!





Brazilian flag general characteristics



Brazil's flag bears a yellow diamond-shaped structure placed on a green background; in its center, there is a celestial blue circle, symbolizing Brazil's blue sky with 27 white five-pointed stars. Allegedly, the star formation arranged in the flag is the as it was seen in the skies of Brazil on the day when the Republic was proclaimed.

The stars represent its capital, Brasília, and the other 26 states.

In the middle of the circle there is a white band with the motto "Ordem e Progresso", meaning "Order and Progress". The motto became part of Brazil's flag in 1889 thanks to the Positivists involved in its elaboration.

The green color represents the lush fields and forests of the country, while the yellow symbolizes its wealth in gold. (well, past wealth in gold...)

>About the stars...


Each of the 27 stars depicted in the Brazilian flag represents a different state:

The Southern Cross constellation (6), also known as “Crux”, represents the 4 southeastern states: São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, Espírito Santo, and the northeastern state of Bahia.

Scorpius (9) represents the eight other states of northeastern Brazil: Sergipe, Alagoas, Pernambuco, Paraíba, Rio Grande do Norte, Ceará, Maranhão and Piauí.

The three southern Brazilian states of Rio Grande do Sul, Paraná and Santa Catarina are represented by the Triangulum Australe (8).
Canis Major (2)represents the states of Amapá, Roraima, Tocantins and Rondônia.

The four single stars Procyon (1), Spica (4), Canopus (3) and Sigma Octantis (7), represent Amazonas, Pará, Goiás and the Federal District.

The two stars of Hydra (5) symbolize the states of Mato Grosso do Sul and Acre.





History of Brazil's flag in a nutshell


Brazil’s current flag is an adaptation of the Imperial flag (above) created in 1822 by the French painter Jean-Baptiste Debret. It was commissioned by D. Pedro I.

At that time, the green background represented the Bragança dynasty, the emperor's family; the yellow represented the Habsburgs, the family of his wife, princess Leopoldina.

As can be seen in the picture, the previous flag had a crest symbol instead of the celestial globe.

Note: There were other flags before and after this one. If you'd like learn more more about all other flags in Brazilian history, you may read further on Wikipedia.





And, now, let us all sing the hymn to the Brazilian flag.

Just kidding...:-)

...But I thought it would be a nice to way to sign off this post by giving you a YouTube video (uploaded by Rico140781) and the lyrics honoring this beautiful flag (English translation follows)



Hail, beautiful symbol of hope
Hail, royal symbol of peace!
Thy noble presence reminds us of
The motherland’s grandeur.

Chorus:

Receive the affection that there is
Within our youthful heart,
Loved symbol of the land,
Beloved land of Brazil!

On thy lovely bosom depicts
This deepest blue sky,
The wonderful green of those forests,
And the splendor of the Southern Cross.

Contemplating thy sacred image
We learn to understand our duty;
And Brazil, beloved by its children,
Powerful and happy will be.

Above the immense Brazilian nation,
In moments of joy or sorrow,
Float forever, sacred flag,
Symbol of justice and of love.




Related Posts:
Learn Portuguese | Facts of Brazil | Brazilian Baby Names
Other Languages on this Blog:
Arabic | Chinese | Hebrew | Japanese


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4 comments:

  1. Your ironies and sarcasm while referring to any nation or it's facts should be refrained...Lost a chance to publicize a piece of information on a high standards :(

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  2. Hi Eddie,

    There is no irony much sarcasm about any fact on Brazil or any other nation. This is a text about the Brazilian flag. It was researched and I took care to present a brief, but, as far as I know honest info on this beautiful symbol.

    ReplyDelete