Understanding the meaning and symbolism of Spain's national flag

Hey everybody and welcome to Fun With Flags episode number two. Now today we're gonna talk about the Spanish flag, which looks a little like this. Now, way back then in the Middle Ages, there wasn't really any flag in use, since the concept of it didn't really exist at the time. The king and its armies instead flew a royal banner, or the representation of a royal shield, Which was commonly made up of different symbols Representing either different royal households or values defended by the king in the 14th century The first actual flag was put into use but we're gonna get to that in a second So let's start with the royal shield Which was almost always present even if in different forms throughout the Spanish flag the royal shield or the king's coat of arms farms is today made up of five components. On the top left, a three-towered castle, representing the Kingdom of Castile. On the top right, a crowned reddish lion, representing the Kingdom of León. On the bottom left, the red and yellow stripes represent the Kingdom of Aragon, which you can associate with the flag of Catalonia, a region of Spain which has wanted its independence for a while. On the bottom right, a cross and chains linked together stand for the Kingdom of Navarre. On the bottom, the seed or flower with two leaves represents Granada, one of the southern regions that the Spanish conquered from the Moors. And last, in the center, there are three fleurs-de-lis, representing the royal house of Bourbon-Anjou. Now, when we look at the shield, it becomes easier to understand some of the problems Spain faces in keeping its territory unified. While some countries like Portugal are made up of a single kingdom or single nation, Spain is in fact the junction of a bunch of territories and kingdoms that came together throughout time, whether through conquest, marriage or even inheritance. Now let's take a look at a couple other elements on the shield. The two pillars on each side are called the Pillars of Hercules and each of them also represents one of Spain's dominions, one of them being Gibraltar and the other one being Ceuta. Curiously, each of their claims over these territories are kind of disputed. Gibraltar continues to be under British rule and Ceuta, even though it is ruled by the Spanish, was always a Portuguese dominion until the two kingdoms were joined by a brief period of time due to the lack of a Portuguese heir to the throne. In fact, Ceuta's flag actually consists of the background of Portugal's capital city of Lisbon with the Portuguese royal shield, even though it still today is a Spanish territory. Now, when we see the colors, they are said to represent only the colors of the original Spanish kingdoms, which like I said before are still present in the royal shield. Next, let's take a look at the evolution of the Spanish flag throughout time and how these elements were sort of always present, even though sometimes specific ones are missing from the flag with its absence being related to some historical event. So like I said, the Spanish kingdoms didn't really unite until fairly late, so I'm gonna start this timeline with the first flag of the United Spain if you will. From 1492 until 1785 the flag which was in use was the Cross of Burgundy, put into use by the Duchy of Burgundy which was then inherited by the House of Habsburg. So let's fast forward to the flag that was in use from 1785 to 1931. It was a simple flag with the Spanish colors but a slightly different shield containing only the houses of León and Castile. Now, during this time, there was a brief interruption of the use of this flag during 1873 and 74, where the flag in use was the flag of the first Spanish Republic, which looked exactly the same, except for the crown. And the 20th century is an interesting time, because from 36 to 39, Spain was in a civil war, So, each of the two sides, the Nationalists and the Republicans, had their own flag. The Republican flag used slightly different colors, while the Nationalist flag kept the yellow and red with a slightly different shield. Now the Nationalists eventually won the civil war, installing a fascist regime in Spain, which used the Nationalist flag until 1981, even though it suffered subtle alterations throughout the time, like the addition and then change in the size of the eagle. After 1981 and the death of Franco, the king returned to power and Spain began its return to a parliamentary monarchy and a democratic regime, adopting the flag that we know today, with the red and yellow stripes, the shield and most importantly, the crown representing the king. Thank you guys so much for watching episode 2 of Fun with Flags, I hope you liked it. Make sure to leave a comment below telling me what you think. Did I miss anything? Did I get anything wrong? I just get this stuff off the internet so there might be a few mistakes. Make sure to subscribe if you wanna catch future videos and check out the Patreon page that I just launched. If you get a chance, help out with a dollar or two and you'll be really helping out in the making of these videos. Anyway, thanks for watching and I'll see you next time.