Last modified: 2003-09-13 by joe mcmillan
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by Joseph McMillan
The Agulhas Negras Military Academy is the principal source of commissioned officers for the Brazilian Army. It traces its lineage to a school for artillery officers established by the Portuguese government in 1792, renamed, relocated, and reconstituted numerous times since then. The standard was granted in 1931 when the institution was named Escola Militar (Military School). Recent photographs show it still in use in the original design, except for the designation on the scroll below the coat of arms. It is officially described as turquoise blue, but the photos show more of a light medium blue without the greenish tinge normally associated with turquoise. The academy coat of arms is placed in the upper hoist, sharply pointed black mountains (from which the academy takes its name, "black needles") with a gold tower in base. The flag is fringed with gold. The standard green and yellow national cockade with streamers is attached below the finial. I have used the 2:3 ratio that is standard for Brazilian Army unit standards, as the photograph and the drawing in Clovis Ribeiro's Brazões e bandeiras do Brasil seems to show the flag in about that ratio. Joseph McMillan, 11 March 2003