Portugal Flag

The flag of Portugal represents two vertical stripes: green on the left (the shaft), red on the right (the wind). Bands are not the same width, the red is 1.5 times larger than the green. On the dividing line, you can see the coat of arms of Portugal. It consists of a white escudo with five blue shields on another one, red, adorned with seven golden castles. The whole is placed on a spherical astrolabe. The astrolabe represents the geometry of sky and its movement, but also that of the Earth, we can see a strong reference to the Portuguese explorers. The white escudo with shields made, its appearance in 1185. Alfonso Henriques said it had received from his father a shield that no longer remained fabric as adornment, only five nails. They accounted for a cross of five blue shields, represented on the flag until 1248. At this time, Alfonso III, who ruled the country, keeped the flag and added a red border with sixteen castles. It is said that they evoke the positions taken to Arabs in Algarve. They will be reduced to seven at the composition of the current flag in 1910. The green represents hope, but also the republican revolt of 1891, while the red recalls blood shed by freedom fighters.