The ikurrina flag (in

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

)Euskaltzaindia
Dictionary of the Standard Basque
retrieved 2010-10-04. or ikurriña (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

spelling of the Basque term) is a

symbol and the official flag of the Basque Country

Autonomous Community eu, autonomia erkidegoa ca, comunitat autònoma gl, comunidade autónoma oc, comunautat autonòma an, comunidat autonoma ast, comunidá autónoma , alt_name = , map = , category = Autonomous administra ...

of Spain. This flag consists of a white cross over a green

saltire A saltire, also called Saint Andrew's Cross or the crux decussata, is a heraldic symbol in the form of a diagonal cross, like the shape of the letter X in Roman type. The word comes from the Middle French ''sautoir'', Medieval Latin ''saltator ...

on a red field.

Terminology

The name is a

neologism A neologism Greek νέο- ''néo''(="new") and λόγος /''lógos'' meaning "speech, utterance"] is a relatively recent or isolated term, word, or phrase that may be in the process of entering common use, but that has not been fully accepted int ...

by Luis Arana, Luis and

Sabino Arana Sabino Policarpo Arana Goiri (in Spanish), Sabin Polikarpo Arana Goiri (in Basque), or Arana ta Goiri'taŕ Sabin (self-styled) (26 January 1865 – 25 November 1903), was a Basque writer and the founder of the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) ...

, from 'mark, sign' (itself a neologism extracted from 'to read'), comparable to the Catalan and Faroese . In Basque, it has the generic meaning of 'flag', but specially the one of the Basque Country, as defined by the

Euskaltzaindia Euskaltzaindia (; often translated Royal Academy of the Basque Language) is the official academic language regulatory institution which watches over the Basque language. It conducts research, seeks to protect the language, and establishes stand ...

(Royal Academy of the Basque Language). The original Biscayne spelling of the Aranas was (the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

is the Basque

definite article An article is any member of a class of dedicated words that are used with noun phrases to mark the identifiability of the referents of the noun phrases. The category of articles constitutes a part of speech. In English, both "the" and "a(n)" ar ...

, in singular). The modern standard Basque spelling is .

Design

Similar in pattern to the

Union Jack The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...

, the flag was designed by the founders of the

Basque Nationalist Party The Basque Nationalist Party (, EAJ ; es, Partido Nacionalista Vasco, PNV; french: Parti Nationaliste Basque, PNB; EAJ-PNV), officially Basque National Party in English,) was rejected by party members in November 2011. Nonetheless, the party did ...

EAJ-PNV, Luis Arana, Luis and

, and is commonly regarded as the national but unofficial symbol of the Basque Country (''Euskal Herria''). It is widely seen in the

French Basque Country The French Basque Country, or Northern Basque Country ( eu, Iparralde (), french: Pays basque, es, País Vasco francés) is a region lying on the west of the French department of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques. Since 1 January 2017, it constitu ...

and forms part of the unofficial flag of

Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Pierre and Miquelon (), officially the Territorial Collectivity of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon (french: link=no, Collectivité territoriale de Saint-Pierre et Miquelon ), is a self-governing territorial overseas collectivity of France in t ...

, the French overseas community in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

that was settled by French Basque and also many Spanish Basque sailors. The Ikurriña is also the flag of the

(EAJ-PNV). A controversy exists because at first it was only the symbol of a section of the party (the section representing the province of Biscay) and many people thought that another flag must represent the entire country. The red ground symbolizes the Biscayne people, the green saltire might represent the Oak of Guernica, a symbol of the old laws of Biscay, or

Fueros (), (), () or () is a Spanish legal term and concept. The word comes from Latin , an open space used as a market, tribunal and meeting place. The same Latin root is the origin of the French terms and , and the Portuguese terms and ; all ...

; and over them, the white cross, God's symbol of Basque Catholic devotion. Thus, red, white and green have become the national Basque colors.

History

The flag was designed in 1894 to represent the province of

Biscay Biscay (; eu, Bizkaia ; es, Vizcaya ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilbao. B ...

in a set of one flag for each of the seven Basque provinces and one for the whole country; however, since PNV activity was scarce outside of Biscay, only the Biscayne flag was publicly recognized. It was hoisted for the first time in the "Euzkeldun Batzokija", the club that preceded EAJ-PNV. The party adopted it in 1895 and, in 1933, proposed it as the flag of the whole Basque Country. Since the Basque people had accepted the "ikurriña", at the suggestion of the socialist counselor Aznar, the Basque Government adopted it as the flag of the Basque Autonomous Region in 1936. This flag was used as the

Naval jack A jack is a flag flown from a short jackstaff at the bow (front) of a vessel, while the ensign is flown on the stern (rear). Jacks on bowsprits or foremasts appeared in the 17th century. A country may have different jacks for different purpo ...

of the

Basque Auxiliary Navy The Basque Auxiliary Navy ( es, Marina de Guerra Auxiliar de Euzkadi, eu, Eusko Itsas Gudarostea) was a section of the Spanish Republican Navy operating in the Bay of Biscay between 1936 and 1937. It began operations in October 1936 at the behes ...

, a section of the

Spanish Republican Navy The Spanish Republican Navy was the Navy, naval arm of the Spanish Republican Armed Forces, Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic, the legally established government of Spain between 1931 and 1939. History In the same manner as the othe ...

operating in the

Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay (), known in Spain as the Gulf of Biscay ( es, Golfo de Vizcaya, eu, Bizkaiko Golkoa), and in France and some border regions as the Gulf of Gascony (french: Golfe de Gascogne, oc, Golf de Gasconha, br, Pleg-mor Gwaskogn), ...

during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

.La Marina de Guerra Auxiliar de Euzkadi 1936-1937
/ref> In 1938, after the military defeat of the Basque Government, the regime of General Franco prohibited this flag —although it continued to be used in the Northern Basque Country. In the following decades it became a symbol of defiance – the first actions of the clandestine group

ETA Eta (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἦτα ''ē̂ta'' or ell, ήτα ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative in most dialects, ...

involved placing flags in public places. The Basque flag was legalised again in 1977 during the

Spanish transition to democracy Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

. Two years later, the Basque Government adopted it as the flag of the

Basque autonomous community The Basque Country (; eu, Euskadi ; es, País Vasco ), also called Basque Autonomous Community ( eu, Euskal Autonomia Erkidegoa, links=no, EAE; es, Comunidad Autónoma del País Vasco, links=no, CAPV), is an autonomous community of Spain. It ...

. It is also used as an unofficial flag for some sectors of Basque society in other provinces.

Gallery

File:Euskadi.jpg, A Basque Flag File:Batasuna.svg, The Basque left-wing nationalist party

Herri Batasuna Herri Batasuna (; en, Popular Unity; HB) was a far-left Basque nationalist coalition in Spain. It was founded in 1978 and defined itself as abertzale, left-wing, socialist, and supported the independence of the Greater Basque Country. It was r ...

used a logo inspired by the Ikurriña File:Oiartzunen nafar ekitaldia.jpg, Riders with the

Flag of Navarre The flag of Navarre, the flag of the autonomous community of Navarre, was designed in 1910 by Arturo Campión, Julio Altadill, and Hermilio de Oloriz. In 1910, the design was approved by the Provincial Council of Navarre and it was sanctioned by ...

, ''ikurrina'' and the ''

Arrano beltza The ''arrano beltza'' (Basque language, Basque, 'black eagle'; it is also the Basque name of the golden eagle, ''Aquila chrysaetos'') is an ancient Basque people, Basque and Navarre symbol depicting a black Eagle (heraldry), heraldic eagle upo ...

'' File:Abadiño bandera 2.JPG, Parade in

Abadiño , population_note = , population_density_km2 = auto , blank_name_sec1 = Official language(s) , blank_info_sec1 = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST = CEST , ut ...

, Biscay

References

* ''Apuntes para la historia del nacionalismo vasco:'
''las banderas de los ex-Estados históricos vascos o regiones autónomas''
Luis de Arana Goiri, 1930. Scanned pages of a typewritten manuscript. *

External links

www.ikurrinamunduan.com
Photographs in which the Ikurriña appears outside the borders of Euskal Herria.

used a similar flag in the 18th century. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ikurrina Basque culture Flags of Spain Flags of indigenous peoples National flags Flags with crosses