The flag of the Basque Country, also known as the ikurrina (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 spelling of the Basque term), is the official flag of the Basque Country

Autonomous Community The autonomous communities () are the first-level administrative divisions of Spain, created in accordance with the Spanish Constitution of 1978, with the aim of guaranteeing limited autonomy to the nationalities and regions that make up Sp ...

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 Heraldry, heraldic symbol in the form of a diagonal cross. The word comes from the Middle French , Medieval Latin ("stirrup"). From its use as field sign, the saltire cam ...

on a red field.

Terminology

The name is a

neologism In linguistics, a neologism (; also known as a coinage) is any newly formed word, term, or phrase that has achieved popular or institutional recognition and is becoming accepted into mainstream language. Most definitively, a word can be considered ...

by Luis and Sabino Arana, 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 especially that of the Basque Country, as defined by the Euskaltzaindia (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 examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

is the Basque

definite article In grammar, 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" ...

, 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. The Union Jack was also used as the official flag of several British colonies and dominions before they adopted their own national flags. It is sometimes a ...

, the flag was designed by the founders of the Basque Nationalist Party EAJ-PNV, Luis and Sabino Arana, 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 (, or , ), is a region lying on the west of the French department of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques. Since 1 January 2017, it constitutes the Basque Municipal Community (; ) presided ...

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 (), is a self-governing territorial overseas collectivity of France in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean, located near the Canada, Canadian prov ...

, the French overseas community in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

that was settled by French Basque and also many Spanish Basque sailors. The Ikurriña is also the flag of the Basque Nationalist Party (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; 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 ( ; ; ), is a province of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the Bay of Biscay, eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilb ...

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 of the Basque Auxiliary Navy, a section of the Spanish Republican Navy operating in the

Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay ( ) is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Point Penmarc'h to the Spanish border, and along the northern coast of Spain, extending westward ...

during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

. 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 ; ''ē̂ta'' or ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel, . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative, , in most dialects of Ancient Greek, it ...

involved placing flags in public places. In 1976, during a derby match between Athletic Club Bilbao and Real Sociedad, players from both teams united to sneak in and display the illegal Basque flag, Ikurrina, at Atotxa Stadium. The act was successful, as the authorities took no action, and it became a significant step towards the legalization of the flag.The Basque Flag (Ikurrina) – A Brief History
/ref> The Basque flag was legalised again in 1977 during the

Spanish transition to democracy The Spanish transition to democracy, known in Spain as (; ) or (), is a period of History of Spain, modern Spanish history encompassing the regime change that moved from the Francoist dictatorship to the consolidation of a parliamentary system ...

. Two years later, the Basque Government adopted it as the flag of the Basque autonomous community. 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:Ikurrinaren jatorrizko diseinua, 1894.jpg, Original design of Arana-Goiri brothers of Basque Flag or Ikurrina, 1894. File:Flag of the Basque Country by Sabino Arana.svg, Initial design of the Ikurriña. File:Flag of the Basque Country (original Arana proposal).svg, Original proposed flag to represent the entire Basque Country. File:Batasuna.svg, The Basque left-wing nationalist party

Herri Batasuna Herri Batasuna (; ; HB) was a Far-left politics, far-left Basque nationalist coalition in Spain. It was founded in 1978 and defined itself as abertzale left, abertzale, left-wing, socialism, socialist, and supported the independence of the Basque ...

used a logo inspired by the Ikurriña. File:Oiartzunen nafar ekitaldia.jpg, Riders with the Flag of Navarre, ''ikurrina'' and the '' Arrano beltza''. File:Abadiño bandera 2.JPG, Parade in Abadiño, Biscay. File:Ikurrina, Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque, 2009.jpg, Ikurrina, Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque, 2009. File:20170514 Céret-Mauléon - 27.jpg, Mauleon SA rugby team. File:Castle of Mauleon, view to south-west.jpg, Castle of Mauléon-Licharre. 2017. File:Donibane Garaziko herriko etxea.jpg,

Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port (literally "Saint John t theFoot of hePass"; ; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques Departments of France, department in south-western France. It is close to Ostabat in the Pyrenean f ...

, 4 flags in the

Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

References

* *

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Basque Country

Flag A flag is a piece of textile, fabric (most often rectangular) with distinctive colours and design. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design employed, and fla ...

Flags of Spain Flags of indigenous peoples National flags Flags with crosses Flags with green, red and white