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Three Brazils (series of books)

Last modified: 2009-04-24 by marc pasquin
Keywords: three brazils | book | novel | brazil | palmares | new holland |
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Introduction

Gerson Lodi-Ribeiro is a Brazilian writer, well-known for his science fiction and alternate history works. In the latter genre (in which Brazil excells in recent times) this author has created stories set mainly in two different "universes": "Pax Paraguaya" and "Three Brazils". See here.

The point of divergence of the Three Brazils universe is in ca. 1680, when the runaway slave community of Palmares is *not* crushed by the Portuguese authorities (who also couldn't expell the Dutch) and grows into an independent nation (nicknamed First Republic) eventually covering roughly the northern half of Brazil *here*. The other two "brazils" are the "real thing", reduced to the southern half of Brazil *here*, and New Holland (Nieuw Holland / Nova Holanda), which was once larger than the city-state of Recife it is reduced to in the "fictional present" of the "Three Brazils" universe.

(See here for more info on the real Palmares; trusting our page on it, it had no flag.)
António Martins-Tuválkin, 23 November 2006

The author informed me that the actual point of divergence is in 1647, when Maurice of Nassau comes back to Recife with fresh troops and ships, enabling the alternate events outcome sketched above.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 30 July 2008

Brazil

[the cobalt blue ensign with thirty two yellow stars. Above the stars a sentence in white letters 'Paz no futuro e glória no passado']
by António Martins-Tuválkin, 30 July 2008

The flag of (rump) Brazil is mentioned on the story Pátrias de Chuteiras (Fatherlands in Soccer Boots) here (end of §4):

bandeiras azuis cobalto do Brasil
which means «colbalt blue flags of Brasil». This is detailed in §8:
O pavilhão azul cobalto com trinta e duas estrelas amarelas que representam tanto os astros mais brilhantes da constelação do Cruzeiro do Sul quanto os estados e territórios do país. Encimando as estrelas, a frase em letras brancas: "Paz no futuro e glória no passado". Um retângulo de pano azul pontilhado de ouro.
Meaning «the cobalt blue ensign (sic !) with thirty two yellow stars, showing the brightest stars of the Southern Cross as many states and territories of the country. Above the stars a sentence in white letters "Peace in the future, glory in the past". A rectangle of blue cloth speckled in gold».

According to the author Gerson Lodi-Ribeiro (personnal communication), the design of this flag is patterned after the central disc of the flag of Brazil *here*, showing 5-pointed regular upright stars on a dark blue background with a stripe, curved and offset to the bottom, with the portuguese sentence "_PAZ NO FUTURO, GLÓRIA NO PASSADO_" (peace in the future, glory in the past), a quote from the national anthem, set in sans serif capitals. (See at here a detailed map of the Crux constellations. I'm sure "someone" will readily produce a suitable capture of the 23 brightest objects of Crux, as seen from Rio de Janeiro set in a rectangular projection... ;-)
António Martins-Tuválkin, 23 November 2006

New Holland

[the cobalt blue ensign with thirty two yellow stars. Above the stars a sentence in white letters 'Paz no futuro e glória no passado']
by André Pires Godinho & António Martins-Tuválkin, 30 July 2008

New Holland (Nieuw Holland / Nova Holanda) has no flag mentioned in extant stories, but it might yet appear. I predict an orange/red-white-blue with Maurice of Nassau's crowned monogram on the white stripe, as given in usual Brazilian sources *here* as the flag of Dutch Brazil.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 23 November 2006

This suggestion was approved by the author and may be used in new texts featuring this universe.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 30 July 2008

Palmares

 here, the short story _Pátrias de Chuteiras_ (Fatherlands in Soccer Boots) includes the following description of the flag of Palmares (§3):
bandeira verde com o carcará negro de asas abertas no centro [...] o carcará da Primeira República carrega uma lança, um caule de cana-de-açúcar e uma luneta nas patas cerradas.
Which means «green flag with the Crested Caracara (Polyborus plancus) with open wings on the center. [...] the First Republic's Caracara holds a spear, a sugar cane stalk and a handheld telescope in its grasping talons».

Later on, the jerseys of the Palmares national soccer team are described (§6) to be:
verdes-esmeralda com o desenho estilizado de um grande carcará negro
«emerald green with the stylized image of a large black Crested Caracara».
António Martins-Tuválkin, 23 November 2006