- Spanish Flag
- Spanish culture
- Destinations
The Spanish flag has suffered various changes over its history. Under Franco's dictatorship the flag lost the colour mauve appearing on the Republican flag, and incorporated two important symbols, the eagle and the shield of the Catholic monarchy.
In 1977, two years after Franco's death, the eagle was slightly modified, and in 1981 it would disappear completely, leaving the current red/yellow/red with crowned arms.
The new Spanish flag has three horizontal bands of red (top), yellow (double width) and red, with the national coat of arms on the hoist side of the yellow band. The shield includes the royal seal, which is flanked by two crowned pillars (the Pillars of Hercules) bearing the inscription Plus Ultra.
According to Spanish legislation, the height of the coat of arms should measure two fifths of the flag's width (i.e. hoist), and should appear in the middle of the yellow stripe. The flag's usual proportions are a length measuring three halves its width, in which case the distance from the hoist of the shield's vertical axis should be half the flag's width. In other instances (should the flag be either shorter in length or square) the coat of arms should appear in the centre.
