Balearic Islands (Spain)

Islas Baleares, Illes Balears

Last modified: 2009-11-21 by eugene ipavec
Keywords: spain | balearic islands | islas baleares | illes balears | baleares | castle |
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2:3
by Antonio Gutiérrez, taken with permission from the S.E.V. website
Flag adopted 25th February 1983

• Description
• Flag Variants
• Majorca in the Book of All Kingdoms, c. 1380
• Late 1970s Balearic Islands Proposal
• Former Province of Palma de Mallorca
• Island Council Flags:
  • Majorca Island (Consejo/Consell Insular de Mallorca)
  • Minorca Island (Consejo/Consell Insular de Menorca)
  • Ibiza and Formentera Islands (Consejo Insular de Ibiza y Formentera / Consell Insular d'Eivissa i Formentera)
• Municipal Flags:
  • Majorca Island
    • City of Palma de Mallorca
    • Municipality of Alcúdia
    • Municipality of Andratx
    • Municipality of Banyalbulfar
    • Municipality of Campanet
    • Municipality of Capdepera
    • Municipality of Estellencs
    • Municipality of Inca
    • Municipality of Manacor
    • Municipality of Puerto Pollensa
    • Municipality of Ses Salines
    • Municipality of Sóller
    • Municipality of Vilafranca de Bonany
  • Minorca Island
    • City of Ciutadella (Ciudadela)
• Political Parties

See also:

• Origins of the Aragonese-Catalan Flag
• Balearic Islands Nationalist Movements
• Palma de Mallorca Maritime Province
• Provincial Flags (Spain)
• Spain

As for the origin of this flag, we have no info. It obviously derives from the historical Catalonian "quatre barres" flag, used as such by current autonomous (rump) Catalonia, in Spain, and by Rosselló / Rosselhon / Roussillon in France, and – with additional elements – the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Region, (fly cantons with Dauphiné and Nice), Aragon (CoA centered on the hoist square) and the Balearic Islands (purple top hoist canton with white castle).

Now, why a canton? Maybe for no partiucular reason, but perhaps influenced by the local registration ensign of Palma de Mallorca, which is blue with a yellow square canton (at top hoist). It is known that some later local civic flags in coastal Spain derived from local registration ensigns, notably Galicia.

António Martins-Tuválkin, 27 Nov 2007

Olga Quntanilla-Madrid reports in "Ultima Hora Digital" that the Constitutional Commission of the Deputees' Congress is close to an agreement on the new statutes of the Balearic Islands. The two main national parties PP (conservative) and PSOE (socialist) have accepted amendments tabled by IU (United Left) and ERC (a Catalan independentist party).

Article 5, paragraph 2 of the proposed statutes says that

cada isla podrá tener su bandera, su diada y sus símbolos distintivos propios por acuerdo del consejo insular respectivo

("each island can have its flag, day and distinctive symbols after the agreement of the respective island's council.")

Source: Ultima Hora Digital, 14 Dec

Ivan Sache, 21 Feb 2007

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image by Antonio Gutiérrez, modified by António Martins-Tuválkin, 27 Nov 2007

I spent some days in Majorca in August 2000. Most flag displays included the flags of Spain, the European Union and the Balearic Islands. The latter was frequently shown in two variants, one with the canton measuring half the hoist, as above, the other occupying only the first four pallets, thus measuring 4/9ths of the hoist. This is probably an incorrect variant. It is difficult to say, but I believe both variants had the same proportions for the canton as for the flag, meaning that the canton's length would be half the flag's in the first one and 4/9ths in the second. In any case, at least the canton of the second (incorrect?) variant was certainly smaller than half the flag's length.

Santiago Dotor, 05 Sep 2000

Detail

images by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 20 Jun 2009

The new flag of Mallorca island was formerly already used as a symbol of the community of the Balearic Islands, especially during the 2nd Republic (1936-1939). After Franco's victory in civil war it was strictly forbidden to show it. But during the last years of Franco's rule it had been tolerated. According to [ped79a], the autonomous government of the Balearic Islands was established on 2 June 1978. Based on the flag of Mallorca, in 1983, proposed by a commission of experts, a flag was adopted by the Council of the Balearic Islands, which changed the position of the castle in the Mallorquin flag. The new flag was a Senyera, having the white castle of Almudaina in a purple canton (which took nearly one quarter of total flag). According to my own observations the human figure/angel had disappeared from the flag of the Council of the Balearic islands. A little bit later the Island Council of Mallorca (Consell Insular de Mallorca) regained the “improved” version of its proper flag.

Source: http://bibiloni.cat/simbols/banderes_morat.htm

Klaus-Michael Schneider, 20 Jun 2009

images by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 20 Jun 2009

In [ped79a]; p.190 another flag of the Balearic islands is given. The pattern is the same like that one of the Valencian community, a Senyera having a vertical blue stripe at the hoist. This proposal is not mentioned by Bibiloni.

Source: http://bibiloni.cat/simbols/banderes_morat.htm

Klaus-Michael Schneider, 20 Jun 2009

The Diputación Provincial [provincial council] was an administrative body which dissappeared in the early 1980s in those Autonomous Communities which comprise only one province. Note that although the administrative body is now the Autonomous Community, the province still exists.

Antonio Gutiérrez, 18 Nov 1999

No flag was ever adopted or used.

Jaume Ollé, 27 Nov 1999