The today’s flag of Portugal was introduced by law on 19th of June in 1911, and hoisted for the first time on 30th of June in 1911. It shows two vertical stripes in green and red in a ratio of 2:3, at the line of joint the coat of arms of the state. Green is not only the colour of the old flags of Portugal but even the colour of the House of Bragança and stands for the hope and the ocean. Red stands for the revolution. The colours of Portugal are only defined for display on the monitor in the RGB colour range. For printing, the colours of the flag are not exactly defined. All colours seem to be defined from practice, namely, red as Pantone 485, green as Pantone 349 and blue as Pantone 288. The Portugese heraldry contains some interesting characteristics:
• The armillary sphere, nowadays placed behind the blazon, is an instrument for the representation of the movements in the sky and represents the Kopernikan view of the world. That emblem was in use together with the colours green and white since the period of rule of King Henry the Seafarer (1394–1460). It was the personal emblem of King Emanuel I. (1495–1521) and the symbol of the age of discoveries. It is to see on Portugese flags since the 18th century and since 1815 the coat of arms is placed on it. The armillar-sphere was former valid as colonial symbol and since the 18th century also as symbol of Brazil.
• The seven golden castles on red ground in the coat of arms have their roots in the marriage of King Alfons III. with Beatrix of Castilia in the year 1252. By other sources they should symbolize the establishment of the kingdom by Alfons I. Henry (1139–1185).
• The five in form of a cross arraged blue blazons (Quinas) remember the victory of Alfons Henry over five moresque kings near Ourique (1139). The five white disks on the shields correspond since modern times to the wounds of Christus. The number of discs varied considerably until the 15th century.
• On Portugese flags was and is frequently to see the cross of the Order of Christus (donated in 1317), a showy crimson cross which containes a silvery cross. That order is one of the oldest and most reputable of Portugal and came directly about the Order of the Temple. The cross of the Order of Christus is until today the national emblem of Portugal and it is used on military aircrafts. That cross is as well to see on the flag of Madeira which was adoped on 12th of September 1978.
The first Portugese flags showed only a blue cross on white ground. Probably was this flag (like other cross flags too) donated by the Pope for the crusade against the Moors. Since 1185 arised the blue shield with the five white points on white as Portugese flag, even with five shields arranged in form of a cross. In the year 1252 marryed King Alfons III. Beatrix of Castilia and since that point in time was combined the Castilian heraldry with the Portugese heraldry and since 1383 added by the green lily-cross of the new dynasty of Aviz. Since 1495 were officially used only white flags with the coat of arms in the middle and a crown above it.
Early on, other flags were used in merchant shipping to show the difference between a privateer at sea, e.g. a merchant ship, and a by the king commissioned warship. Many of such naval flags have been handed down, so it can be assumed that there was no uniform regulation. In the 14th and 15th centuries, there were strong simplifications of the heraldry of Portugal, which were also easier to reproduce for private individuals. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the cross of the Order of Christ was often used on maritime flags, which was already a kind of national symbol then and remains so today. Later, the armillary sphere was shown on maritime and merchant flags, also in different colours. In the 18th and 19th centuries, green and white several times horizontally striped flags were used, with widely varying numbers of stripes, which probably had a system. Thus, seven stripes are said to have been used in coastal shipping and nine stripes in ocean shipping. However, there were also blue-white and red-white striped flags.
On 13th of May in 1816 was adoped in Brazilian exile for the United Kingdom of Portugal and Brazil a white flag with the Portugese shield on a crowned armillar-sphere in the middle. The armillar-sphere was at that time the official emblem of Brazil. The colours blue and white were officially adoped for the national cockade (quasi as national colours) on the 23rd of August in 1823. In the civil war (royalists against constitutionalists) adoped the supporters of Queen Maria (constitutionalists) on the Azores Islands on the 18th of October in 1830 a blue-white flag which became – completed by the crowned shield – after her victory in 1833 the national flag of Portugal. After the civil revolution in 1910 the colours of the flag were changed in red and green and the crown was removed from the shield and the shield was layed on a stylized armillar-sphere. This flag was designated per law on 19th of June in 1911 and remained thereafter unchanged. Ostensibly was a flag, which was hoisted on the masts of the vessel "Adamastor", which fired the first shot of the revolution, the pattern for the designing of the flag.
Source: Flaggen und Coat of arms of the Welt,
Die Welt der Flaggen,
Flaggen Enzyklopädie,
Flags of the World,
Volker Preuß
Coat of arms of Portugal,
Source, by: Tonyjeff, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Cross of the Order of Christ,
Source, by: Flags of the World
The coat of arms of Portugal shows on a shield five cross-shaped arranged blue shields with ever five white disks (old Portugal) and seven golden castles in a red border around it (Castillia). Behind the shield the armillar-sphere. To see the meaning of the particular heraldic symbols please look: "Meaning/Origin of the Flag".
Source: Die Welt der Flaggen
Aircraft Roundel,
Source, by: Wikipedia (EN)
1914–1918,
Aircraft Roundel,
Source, by: Wikipedia (EN)
Location:
Source: CIA World Factbook
Map of the country:
Source: CIA World Factbook
Map of the historical Iberian Kingdoms, ca. 1220:
Map: Volker Preuß
Area: 35.603 square miles, inclusive the overseas territories:
· Azores 908 sq.mi., 236.657 inh. (2021),
· Madeira 286 sq.mi., 254.368 inh. (2017)
Inhabitants: 10.421.117 (2021), thereof 89% Portuguese, 5% Descent from the former colonies, 5% Foreigners
Religions: 80% Roman Catholic, 2% Protestant, 3% other Christian, 14% Non-Religious
Density of Population: 293 inh./sq.mi.
Capital: Lisbon (port.: Lisboa), 552.700 inh. (2021)
official Language: Portuguese
Currency: 1 Euro (EUR, €) = 100 Cent
Time Zone (on the mainland): GMT
Source:
Wikipedia (DE),
Wikipedia (EN),
CIA World Factbook
Overseas territories:
Madeira
Azoren
last former colony (until 1999):
Macau
Surf tip:
portugalforum.org
antiquity · settlement of the region by Lusitanians (Celtiberians), settlement by Carthagians in the south
201 B.C. · conquest by the Roman Empire in the Second Punic War against Carthago
72 B.C. · formation of the Roman Province of Lusitania
395 · at the partition of the Roman Empire comes the today's Portugal to the West Roman Empire (Rome)
411 · Migration Period, settlement by Germanic Alanes and Suebes
418 · the Alanes withdraw to south, formation of the Empire of the Suebes
585 · the Empire of the Suebes becomes connected to the Empire of the Western Goth
712 · conquest by the Arabs
ca. 850 · evolution of the frontier-county Portucalia as part of the Kingdom of Leon
1095 · Henry of Burgund becomes Count of Portucalia
1139 · Alfons Henry (the son of Henry of Burgund) names itself Alfons I., King of Portugal
1147 · re-conquest of Lisboa from the Arabs by support of German and English crusaders
1250 · conquest of the Algarve Region from the Arabs, in this way is whole Portugal liberated from the Moors
1260 · Lisboa becomes seat of the king
1267 · fixing of the frontier line with Spain (valid until today)
1383 · the Burgund house of the kings vanishes
1383 · election of John I. (João I.) from the Burgund byline of Aviz to the king
1386 · "Windsor Treaty", Portugal ties to England
1415 · conquest of Ceuta
1419 · appropriation of the Madeira Islands
1432 · appropriation of the Azores Islands
1432 · appropriation of the Cape Verde Islands
1471 · conquest of Guinea
1471 · conquest of Tanger
1482 · discovery and appropriation of Angola
1494 · because of quarrels with Spain pass of the Treaty of Tordesillas about the division of the world along the meridian 50° w.L.
1499 · discovery of Brazil by the Portugese seafarer Pedro Alvarez Cabral
1507 · beginning colonization of Moçambique and Ceylon
1508 · conquest of Masquat
1507 · beginning colonization of Farther India (Indonesia)
1529 · because of quarrels with Spain pass of the Treaty of Zaragoza about the division of the world along the meridian 50° w.L. and the meridian 145° e.L.
1580 · the house of the kings of Aviz vanishes, Portugal becomes united with Spain in personal union
1574 · colonization of Angola
1610 · beginning colonization of Timor (East Timor)
1640 · John IV. from the House of Bragança re-establishes the Portugese kingship, the union with Spain becomes terminated, Portugal becomes independent again under support of France
1750–1778 · legendary times of the work of the Minister Sebastião José de Carvalho e Mello Marquês de Pombal, Portugal becomes guided in the modern times
1807 · the Portugese house of the Kings of Bragança flees from the troops of the French Emperor Napoleón, Portugal becomes occupied by French troops
1811 · Portugal becomes liberated by English troops, English power under Lord Bersesford
1821 · John VI., King of Portugal, returnes from the Brazilian exile
7th of September 1822 · new constitution, Portugal becomes a constitutional monarchy and re-achieves its sovereignty, Brazil declares its independence
1853 · with Queen Maria II. vanishes the House of Bragança, her husband Ferdinand II. of Saxony-Coburg-Gotha takes over the throne, change of dynasty
1908 · assassination of King Carl I. of Saxony-Coburg-Gotha
1910 · deposition of King Manuel II. of Saxony-Coburg-Gotha
1911 · proclamation of the republic
1926–1932 · presidial dictatorship of the President António Oscar de Fragoso Carmona
1932–1968 · presidial dictatorship of the Premier Antonio de Oliveira Salazar
1939 · "Iberian Pact" with Spain
1949 · Portugal becomes a member of the NATO
1955 · Portugal becomes a member of the UNO
1961 · Portugal gives up its possessions in India (Goa, Diu and Daman)
1968–1974 · dictatorship of the Premier Marcello Caetano
25th of April 1974 · military coup d’état ("Carnation's Revolution"), overthrow of M. Caetano, re-democratization, dismissal of the colonies in the independence (10th of September 1974 Guinea-Bissau, 25th of June 1975 Mosambik, 5th of July 1975 Cape Verde Islands, 12th of July 1975 São Tomé und Príncipe, 11th of November 1975 Angola, August 1976 East Timor)
1986 · Portugal becomes a member of the European Economic Community
20th of December 1999 · the Portugese Colony of Macau becomes ceded to China
Source: Atlas zur Geschichte,
Weltgeschichte,
Wikipedia (DE),
World Statesmen,
Volker Preuß
The name "Portugal" has its roots in the old name of the City of Porto. First of all its name was "Cale", after the Roman conquest and colonization was set before a "Portus" (harbor) → "Portus Cale". From that developed after 712 (the conquest of the region by the Arabs) the Frontier-County "Portucalia", which became in 1139 the Kingdom of Portugal.
Source: Handbuch der geographischen Namen