The flag of the

Valencian Community The Valencian Community is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid wit ...

and of the city of Valencia, known as ''Reial Senyera'' (, "Royal Senyera"), is the traditional

Senyera The Senyera is a vexillological symbol based on the coat of arms of the Crown of Aragon, which consists of four red stripes on a yellow field. This coat of arms, often called ''bars of Aragon'', or simply ''"the four bars"'', historically repr ...

, composed of four red bars on a yellow background, crowned with a blue strip party per pale next to the hoist. It was adopted on 1 July 1982. It is an historical derivation of the ''

'', the heraldic symbol of the

Crown of Aragon The Crown of Aragon (, ) ;, ; ; . was a composite monarchy ruled by one king, originated by the dynastic union of the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of Barcelona (later Principality of Catalonia) and ended as a consequence of the War of the Sp ...

, also used today with few variations in all the former kingdoms and counties which were a part of this crown.

History of the flag

As many other flags of medieval origin, the

, or "" (royal

ensign Ensign most often refers to: * Ensign (flag), a flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality * Ensign (rank), a navy (and former army) officer rank Ensign or The Ensign may also refer to: Places * Ensign, Alberta, Alberta, Canada * Ensign, Ka ...

), was used in those years as the arms of the

King of Aragon This is a list of the kings and queens of Aragon. The Kingdom of Aragon was created sometime between 950 and 1035 when the County of Aragon, which had been acquired by the Kingdom of Navarre in the tenth century, was separated from Navarre in ...

. While not existing still in the Middle Ages, the concept of

national flag A national flag is a flag that represents and national symbol, symbolizes a given nation. It is Fly (flag), flown by the government of that nation, but can also be flown by its citizens. A national flag is typically designed with specific meanin ...

as understood today, the true symbol of the nationality was constituted on the royal shield. It is traditionally considered that a Senyera was granted by

James I of Aragon James I the Conqueror ( Catalan/Valencian: ''Jaume I or Jaume el Conqueridor''; Aragonese: ''Chaime I'' ''o Conqueridor''; ; 2 February 1208 – 27 July 1276) was King of Aragon, Count of Barcelona, and Lord of Montpellier from 1213 to 1 ...

as the arms of Valencia following the Christian conquest from Moorish rule in 1238, although the earliest sources related to this are dated in 1377, when the City Council agreed to replace the old arms used for

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, also called "true seal" ** Fur seal ** Eared seal * Seal ( ...

s with a new one with the Senyera. While the origins of the usage of the Senyera as a coat of arms remain unclear in the agreement, a crown in the helm and two "L" as supporters were added, according to an honour awarded by

Peter IV of Aragon Peter IV (Catalan: ''Pere IV d'Aragó;'' Aragonese; ''Pero IV d'Aragón;'' 5 September 1319 – 6 January 1387), called the Ceremonious (Catalan: ''El Cerimoniós''; Aragonese: ''el Ceremonioso''), was from 1336 until his death the king of ...

for the loyalty and courage shown by Valencians to him in several wars such as the

War of the Two Peters The War of the Two Peters (, ), also known as the Castilian–Aragonese War of 1356–1369, was fought from 1356 to 1369 between the crowns of Castile and Aragon. The conflict was a struggle between two claimants to the throne of Castile, Pet ...

against the

Kingdom of Castile The Kingdom of Castile (; : ) was a polity in the Iberian Peninsula during the Middle Ages. It traces its origins to the 9th-century County of Castile (, ), as an eastern frontier lordship of the Kingdom of León. During the 10th century, the Ca ...

. This Valencian coat of arms began to be used in textile standard as a

pennon A pennon, also known as a pennant or pendant, is a long narrow flag which is larger at the Hoist (flag), hoist than at the Fly (flag), fly, i.e., the flag narrows as it moves away from the flagpole. It can have several shapes, such as triangular ...

, including the crown in a fringe, although the blue colour was slightly different. It was , meaning two swallow tails, or (), that's only one swallow rounded and higher tail. The latter is one of the two shapes used and officially regulated today, together with the

rectangle In Euclidean geometry, Euclidean plane geometry, a rectangle is a Rectilinear polygon, rectilinear convex polygon or a quadrilateral with four right angles. It can also be defined as: an equiangular quadrilateral, since equiangular means that a ...

, for Valencian municipalities.Examples of this shape are the official flags of Vall de Gallinera and

Betxí Betxí () is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Plana Baixa in the province of Castellón (Valencian Community), Spain. Betxí is famous for its international Rock Music FestivaSant Antoni Pop Festival See also * List of municipalities in Cast ...

. See The only currently preserved pennon, commonly considered a copy of the original, was made in the 17th century and is kept, though very damaged, at the City Historical Archive of

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

Historical flags

File:Penó_de_la_Conquesta.svg, The

Pennon of the Conquest The Pennon of the Conquest (; Valencian: ) is the flag raised by the Moors of Valencia, Spain, on September 28, 1238, on the tower of , later called , to indicate their surrender to the troops of king James I of Aragon, ending the 1238 Siege o ...

of Valencia. Unknown ratio File:Senyera valenciana preautonòmica.svg, Flag used by Pre-autonomous Council of the Valencian Country (1979–1980). File:Senyera valenciana de l'Estatut de Benicàssim.svg , Proposed flag during the Statute of Benicassim. Unknown ratio File:Flag of the Land of Valencia (swallowtailed).svg, Historical version of the Valencian senyera, between 15th and 18th centuries. Unknown ratio Political Flags File:Senyera del nacionalisme valencià.svg, Valencian nationalism estrelada. Unknown ratio File:Senyera d'Esquerra Valenciana (1931).svg, Flag of

Esquerra Valenciana Valencian Left () is a nationalist Valencian leftist party founded in the Valencian Community, founded in April, 1998 a group of ex-members of Unitat del Poble Valencià (Valencian People's Union) formed left this party and went to form a new pol ...

during the

Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of democratic government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931 after the deposition of Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII. ...

. Unknown ratio

Gallery

File:Palau de la Generalitat del País Valencià 2.jpg, Hoisted at the ''Palau de la Generalitat'' File:Valencian flag atop guard tower.jpg, Flying at top of

Torres de Serranos The Serrans Gate or Serranos Gate (, ; , ), also known as Serrans Towers or Serranos Towers (, ; , ) is one of the twelve gates that formed part of the ancient city wall, the Christian Wall (''Muralla cristiana''), of the city of Valencia, ...

(

) File:Bandera de la ciutat de València (Senyera Coronada) a les Torres de Serrans.JPG, Another senyera hoisted at Tower of Serrans File:Torres de Quart2.JPG, At top of

Torres de Quart The Torres de Quart or Puerta de Quart (also called de Cuarte) is one of the two remaining gates of the old Valencia city wall. It was built between 1441 and 1493. It was still in use during the Peninsular War when it was marked by cannonballs and ...

(

)

Flag protocol

The flag of Valencia is to be hoisted both outside and inside of each and every public and civil building of the

, without endangering the prominence and most honorable place of the

Flag of Spain The flag of Spain (), as it is defined in the Spanish Constitution of 1978, Constitution of 1978, consists of three horizontal stripes: red, yellow and red, the yellow stripe being twice the height of each red stripe. Traditionally, the middle co ...

. It has to be hoisted at the right of the National flag (left from viewer's point). The Flag of Valencia should not be larger than the Flag of Spain nor smaller than the flags of other entities.

References

External links

Spanish Vexillological Society on the Valencian flag
Spanish Only

Spanish only

Spanish only

Historic images {{Lists of flags Senyera Real Flag

Valencian Valencian can refer to: * Something related to the Valencian Community ( Valencian Country) in Spain * Something related to the city of Valencia * Something related to the province of Valencia in Spain * Something related to the old Kingdom of ...