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Castile and Leon (Spain)

Castilla y León

76:99
image by Antonio Gutiérrez, taken with permission from the S.E.V. website, 15 November 2005

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Why such strange proportions were chosen for a Spanish flag, particularly one which has a quartered design, I have no idea.

Santiago Dotor, 10 May 2004

What were the lengths of the pre-metric units of measure used in Spain? The size of these flags seems typical of 19th century ceremonial flags, such as military colors, as does the ratio. I wonder if there was some old, pre-metric specification for such flags that has atavistically survived into the modern metric era.

Joe McMillan, 10 May 2004

Differences with the Historical Flag

Pascal Vagnat asked, "Was the flag of the Kingdom of Castile [and Leon] in 1493 the same flag as the present day flag of Castile and Leon?". In essence, yes. The current official design of the Junta de Castilla y León's coat-of-arms depicts modernly-stylized castles and lions which would not appear in a medieval banner-of-arms. Also, it lacks many of the characteristic heraldic tinctures, the castle not being "masoned sable, windows and gate azure" etc. However, as far as I know, the flag was not redesigned simultaneously with this new official design of the coat-of-arms. Therefore the official flag is much more heraldically correct and is the one depicted above.

Santiago Dotor, 27 Apr 1999