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Córdoba Province (Argentina)

Provincia de Córdoba

Last modified: 2015-03-14 by francisco gregoric
Keywords: córdoba | provincia de córdoba | sun: 32 rays | tower (white) | castle (white) | bleech | angeloz (eduardo césar) | de la sota (juan manuel) | corazón de mi país |
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[Province of Cordoba flag]
image by Jens Pattke, 31 Aug 2011


See also: Other sites:

Description of the flag

The legislature of the Argentine province of Córdoba has adopted, on the 7th of July last, a law to establish very quickly a flag for the province. There will be a contest.
Jos Poels, 22 Jul 2010

The province of Cordoba in Argentina, have it's own, brand new, official flag, chosen by conducting the contest “Buscando la bandera de Córdoba” , more than 750 designs were proposed, from which emerged the winning design that were awarded on 16 December.

The winning design was a creation of the "Instituto Argentino de Ceremonial y Relaciones Públicas INARCE" of Cordoba city, the presentation of the new flag to the public took place at the Situation Room of Government House, where the governor of the province, Mr. Juan Schiaretti,conducted the ceremony.

The flag will be hoist in all provincial government buildings, and the basic shape has three vertical bands of equal sixe: left red, white in the center and blue-sky the right one, to serve the dual purpose of rescuing the colors used by Artigas and be compatible with those of two other provinces of the Central Region: Entre Ríos and Santa Fe, symbolizing the integrating to the region.

The red color represents the blood shed and federalism embraced by Córdoba, blue-sky contributions to national independence and rivers that cross the province and the white refers to the identity of a people. It also contains the outline of the "Jesuit sun" with its 32 rays (16 straight 16 wavy arranged alternately) also knowed as the "sun of May" or "Inca sun " present in the national flag.
André Pires Godinho, 25 Dec 2010


Provincial coat of arms

[Province of Cordoba coat of arms]
image by Francisco Gregoric, 16 Feb 2008

The coat of arms of the Province of Córdoba is based on the original 1573 coat of arms of the City of Córdoba given to the city by its founder Jerónimo Luis de Cabrera (still used as municipal coat of arms of that city).

Although Córdoba has allways used a tower with flags as its emblem, the provincial arms have changed in details across time. The present form was adopted by Decree of July 24, 1925, and finally regulated by Provincial Law No.3517 of July 27, 1932.

The shield of coat of arms has the classical XVIce shape. Per fess, upper part a red field with a white central tower. Seven swallow-tailed Argentine flags are shown around the tower. Lower green field with two blue rivers.

There are not official explanations about the meaning of the seven flags and two rivers, that have been present in the arms since 1573. However, it is suposed that the rivers could be the Río Primero, and Río Segundo of the Province, and the seven flag could stand for the seven cities founded by the Spaniards in that time by the Tucumán Gobernment, being Córdoba the last in 1573.
Francisco Gregoric, 16 Feb 2008

Other sites:

Historical flags of Córdoba

1815 flag

[Córdoba 1815 historical flag] [Reconstruction based upon written sources only]
image by Francisco Gregoric, 17 Feb 2008

In 1815 the Province of Córdoba decreed it was an independent state. According to Argentine historian Bartolomé Mitre, the Argentine national flag was lowered and burned in a public act. It was decreed to support (José Artigas) Federalist League, and the government of Córdoba called Artigas its protector. A federalist flag was raised during these incidents.

The colors followed the usual federalist (Artiguist) colors: blue, white and red, however as there were several different models of federalist (Artiguist) flags. Lacking official legislation, the exact order of colors of the flag raised in Córdoba in 1815 is not known for sure. The nature of the flag was more political than an actual provincial flag. According to most historians the flag followed the design of the model of flag raised in Montevideo in March 1815, usually known as Otorgués Flag (or Andresito Flag in Misiones Province). However apparently it was raised upside down in Córdoba with the white stripe on top.

This flag was apparently used until 1820, when the national flag was adopted by (the new governor of the province) General Bustos.
Francisco Grgoric, 17 Feb 2008


Bleeched variant?

[Córdoba 1815 historical flag (bleeched)] [Reconstruction based upon written sources only]
image by Francisco Gregoric, 17 Feb 2008

Other sources mention a flag in white, blue and red, but the latter somewhat pinkish (maybe out of sun bleeching).
Jaume Ollé, 15 Aug 2000, translated by António Martins, 03 Mar 2002

According to the historian Ernesto Celesia the flag was "blanca, celeste y rosada" (white, sky blue and pink). It is usually thought that the original red shade was discolored by exposure to the sun and other elements, turning into a pinkish shade as a result of that.
Francisco Gregoric, 17 Feb 2008


1815 flag according to other sources

[Córdoba 1815 historical flag according to other sources] [Reconstruction based upon written sources only]
image by Francisco Gregoric, 17 Feb 2008

Flag hoisted in 1815, according to an image from Jorge Hurtado’s collection.
Jaume Ollé, 15 Aug 2000, translated by António Martins, 03 Mar 2002

The Uruguayan author Agustín Beraza in his classic book Las banderas de Artigas [bza57] says that the flag raised in Córdoba in 1815, was a horizontal triband of red, white and blue. That opinion has been followed by some Uruguayan historians. If the flag would have been that way, the pinkish variant may have existed the same way: pink, white and blue.

However most historians suport the white-blue-red order for the 1815 Córdoba flag.
Francisco Gregoric, 17 Feb 2008


Use of the national flag

Soon afterwards there was a come back of the Federal League flag, used until 1820. In that year the [province] Governor, General Bustos, imposed the national flag.
Jaume Ollé, 15 Aug 2000, translated by António Martins, 03 Mar 2002

In this period no provincial flag was used, leaving only the national flag, in it’s usual supra-provincial role.
António Martins, 03 Mar 2002


1986 vetoed flag

[1986 vetoed Córdoba flag] [Proposal - design that was never used in practice]
image by Francisco Gregoric, 16 Feb 2008

In the 1980s, XIX Century historical provincial flags re-appeared again in Argentina, and new designs were adopted by the provinces without a historical flag.

However there have been some resistence in the Province of Córdoba against a provincial flag.
Francisco Gregoric, 16 Feb 2008

This flag was adopted by the Provincial Legislature on November 17, 1986, with the agreement of the Justicialist Party and Radical Civic Union.

[However the flag law was] vetoed by the provincial Executive [Power] and thus not [became] official.
Jaume Ollé, 22 Nov 1996 and 15 Aug 2000

translated by António Martins, 03 Mar 2002

The law of the flag was passed by the provincial Legislative Power in late 1986, but it was later vetoed by Governor Eduardo César Angeloz in early 1987. So the flag law was never promulgated. Therefore, this flag never reached the status of "Official Flag" and it was never used by the province.

The 1986 design combined the colors of the historical flag of Córdoba from 1815 [rotated 90 degrees to create a vertical stripes flag], with a sun similar to the one of the national flag in the central stripe, and the tower taken from the Provincial Coat of Arms in the red stripe.
Francisco Gregoric, 16 Feb 2008


Use of the provincial coat of arms in unofficial flags

[Córdoba unofficial flag with coat of arms] [De facto Version, no official law or edict making the flag official]
image by Francisco Gregoric, 16 Feb 2008

In the Blue Hall of the National Congress Palace in Buenos Aires City, meetings and commemorations are made by the National [Federal] Senate. As the senate is the branch of the Legislatuive Power that represents provinces, that hall is decorated with all the provincial flags.

However in the cases of the provinces without official flag, a plain white flag with the provincial coat of arms at center is used as an unofficial flag to represent the province. These designs are not used by the provinces themselves.

For Córdoba a plain white flag with the provincial coat of arms. The other provinces that are represented with this type of unofficial flag are: Catamarca, and Río Negro.
Francisco Gregoric, 16 Feb 2008


Córdoba heart of my country logo flag

[Córdoba corazón de mi país logo flag] [De facto Version, no official law or edict making the flag official]
image by Francisco Gregoric, 16 Feb 2008

Since governor Juan Manuel de la Sota came to office in Cordoba Province in 1999, a new logo was designed as mark of his administration. This logo reads "Córdoba, Corazón de mi país" (Córdoba heart of my country), due to the geographicak location of the province in Argentina that it would be in the place of the heart of the human body.

Unofficial white flags with this logo have been used in several official places and buildings of the province. This even includes the Casa de Córdoba en Buenos Aires (House of Córdoba in Buenos Aires), a kind of legation of the provincial government in the capital of Argentina. Although these flags are raised in official buildings, they are not official legal provincial flags.

This flag is a kind of Córdoba government symbol, but it is not sure if it will continue to be used after Juan Manuel de la Sota ends its government on December 10, 2007.
Francisco Gregoric, 16 Feb 2008

Sources:
  • [bza57] Agustín Beraza (1957): Las banderas de Artigas
  • [pzz02] Alberto Rubén Perazzo (2002): Nuestras Banderas - Vexilología Argentina (second edition)

Anything below this line was not added by the editor of this page.