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United Provinces on New Granada (1814) (Colombia)

Overview
United Provinces Flags (1814)
United Provinces Coat of Arms

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Overview

Following Rodrigo Llano Isaza, Ortega Ricaute and others, the United provinces adopted a triband flag. Its not sure of course, but there are several quotations that suggest this. The most known are the words of Bolivar, when in 1815 he was accused of attacking Cartagena under Venezuelan colors. He denied that and assured that used a flag from a grenadine battalion of colours yellow, green and red. R. Llano assure that this flag, and exactly in this arrangement was adopted by law 14 July 1814, using the colors of Cartagena but changing the arrangement to one most popular and similar to the one used in Venezuela, to the Spanish flag etc... Because text of law is ambiguous I am unable to confirm it. But seems more logic that Federal government adopted different flag that one of its provinces, that was used probably provisionally use because of lacking other, and Cartagena flag, as an important port, was the most known, and was later preserved its colors. Those colors in triband were later adopted by one of the sovereign states in the period 1857-1886. Flagmaster shows this flag but changed the arrangement to red-yellow-green, but this must be a mistake.
I believe that same flag was used by Tunja when federal government virtually annulled the provincial one after 1812.
Jaume Olle, 15 September 2001

The Virreinato de la Nueva Granada (Viceroyalty of New Granada) was the name given in 1717 to a Spanish colonial jurisdiction in northern South America, corresponding mainly to modern Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela. Before the nineteenth century independence struggles, the Viceroyalty of New Granada existed as a political and administrative entity which also extended to include oversight over local authorities in Ecuador, Guyana, Panamá, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela, as well as small parts of Brazil and Peru.
After the establishment of an Audiencia (a "court of hearing") at Santa Fé de Bogotá and of the New Kingdom of Granada in the sixteenth century, whose governor was loosely dependent upon the Viceroy of Peru at Lima, the slowness of communications between the two capitals led to the creation of an independent Viceroyalty of New Granada in 1717 (and its reestablishment in 1739 after a short interruption); other provinces corresponding to modern Ecuador and Venezuela, and eventually Panama, until then under other jurisdictions, came together in a political unit under the jurisdiction of Bogota, confirming that city as one of the principal administrative centers of the Spanish possessions in the New World, along with Lima and Mexico City. Sporadic attempts at reform were directed at increased efficiency and centralized authority, but control from Spain was never very effective.
The rough and diverse geography of northern South America and the limited range of proper roads made travel and communications inside the Viceroyalty difficult. The establishment of a Captaincy General in Caracas and an Audiencia in Quito, still legally subordinated to the Viceroy, was a response to the necessities of effectively governing their surrounding regions, and some analysts consider that it was also reflecting a degree of local traditions that, much later, eventually contributed to creating differing political and national differences between the newly independent territories
Source: wikipedia.
The New Kingdom was organized several Governments and Provinces:
- Government of Santa Marta Established in 1525)
- Government of Cartagena de Indias (Established in 1533)
- Government of Popayan (Established in 1537)
- Province of Pasto (Established in 1539)
- Government of Santa Fé (De Bogotá) (Established in 1538)
- Government of Tunja (Established in 1539)
- Government of Antioquia (Established in 1541)
- Province of Chocó (Established in 1648)
- Government of Panama Established in 1519)
- Vast Province of Guyana (special province)
Source: wikipedia.
The Vice Royalty of New Granada was divided into 22 Provinces when the Province of Santafe (de Bogotá) declared its independence:
- Santa Marta
- Cartagena de Indias
- Popayan
- Pasto
- Santa Fé (De Bogotá)
- Tunja
- Antioquia
- Chocó
- Panamá (known as Istmo)
- El Socorro
- Casanare
- Neiva
- Mariquita
- Pamplona
- Mompós
- Girón (today exists as a municipality of the Department of Santander)
- Sogamoso
- Honda
- Ambalema (today exists as a municipality of the Department of Tolima)
- Nóvita (also known as Citará) (today exists as a municipality of the Department of Chocó )
- Cauca
- Riohacha ( today exists as a municipality of the Department of La Guajira)
Otehr sources claim that at the time of the Independence the Vice Royalty of New Granada was divided only into the following Provinces: Veragua, Panama, Antioquia, Cartagena, Casanare, Mariquita, Pamplona, Citará, Popayán, Santafé, Tunja, Santa Marta, Riohacha, El Socorro and Neiva.
So at the time the Junta Suprema of the Province of Santa Fé (De Bogotá) declared its Independence from Spain on July 20, 1810, several other Provinces followed, like El Socorro (1810), Mompos (1810), Neiva (1810), Pamplona (1810), Riohacha (1811), Casanare (1811), Cartagena (1811), Tunja (1811), Citará (1813), Neiva (1812), Antioquia (1813), Mariquita (1815), Pamplona (1815). That means that not all fo the Provinces wanted independence from Spain, as one would later see on the wars that unraveled afterwards to achieve independence, as some Provinces fought along the Spaniards, like Pasto, Santa Marta and Popayán.
After all these movements a Congress was called by the Province of Santafe, but given its relevance as an important port on the Caribbean, Cartagena sought prominence and proposed the Congress to be held in Medellin and not in Bogota, in a move to make power more descentralized.
As a result of this, the Province of Santafe proclaimed on February 27, 1811 the State of Cundinamarca as independent, while other Provinces started to fight among themselves for power (Cartagena fought Mompos, Pamplona fought Giron, Tunja fought Sogamoso and Honda fought Ambalema) in a bitter power struggle that sometimes involved armed combat. Mariquita then joined Cundinamarca.
Meanwhile a parallel Congress was set up with representatives of other Provinces and on November 27, 1811 all but Cundinamarca and Choco became the union of all the Provinces that declared independence from Spain after 1811.
So two forms of government emerged: Centralism (around Cundinamarca) and Federalism (around the now called United Provinces)
Then an armed power struggle began between Cundinamarca and the United Provinces to secure dominion over the Provinces that had not decided their status yet.
Also Cartagena fought Santa Marta (loyal to the Spaniards) and Cali started to fight Popayan (loyal to the Spaniards).
Then another Congress gathered among the United Provinces which proclaimed on October 4, 1812 the establishment of The United Provinces of New Granada which was the union of several independent states that declared their independence from Spain after 1810, and joined into an independent confederation of states. The members were:
- Antioquia
- Casanare
- Cartagena
- Cundinamarca (The rivalries between Cundinamarca and the United Provinces became evident starting a Civil War from 1812 to 1813, in which Cundinamarca won, adopting the Centralist way of government)
- Pamplona
- Popayán
- Tunja
After the vitcory of Cundinamarca, the United Provinces of New Granada, now under control by Cundinamarca, sent reinforcements to Cartagena and Cali (now called Ciudades Confederadas del Valle, or Confederated Cities of Valley in their struggle against the Provinces not loyal to the independent cause.
The Battle of Palacé (a river) occured on March 28, 1811, between the Province of Confederate Cities in the Cauca Valley with the support of The United Provinces of New Granada against the Province of Popayan (now considered Spanish territory), in what became the first battle for the Independence of Colombia. The battle was a victory for the Republicans (or Creoles) forcing the Popayan and Spanish forces to withdraw to the Province of Pasto.
Then a series of battles ocurred, with the Spanish invasion of troops, ending the United Provinces of New Granada with a defeat on September 3, 1816.
E.R., 14 May 2009

United Provinces Flags (1814)

image by Jaume Olle, 15 September 2001