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Alagoas (Brazil)

4:7 image by Joseph McMillan
Adopted 23 September 1963

Flag of the State of Alagoas
Coat of Arms of Alagoas
Former Flag of Alagoas
19th Century Merchant Ship Pennant

Flag of the State of Alagoas

The colors of the flag of Alagoas are taken from the traditional colors of the local folklore, adding the shield of the province to distinguish the flag from other similar flags.
Jaume Ollé 28 June 1996

Article 2 of state law no. 2628 of 23 September 1963 defines the state flag as "A rectangular flag, tierced in pale, red, white, and blue. On the center, the coat of arms of the state, without the motto."
Joseph McMillan, 10 July 2002

Coat of Arms of Alagoas

The coat of arms contains branches of the cotton plant and sugar cane, important in the region's economy.
Željko Heimer 13 March 1996

Article 1 of state law no. 2628 of 23 September 1963 says the following on the coat of arms:

The coat of arms of the State of Alagoas, created by Decree no. 53 of 25 May 1894 and reestablished by Decree no. 373 of 15 November 1946 is hereby modified so as to have the following characteristics:

An antique Portuguese shield, in natural position, with a divided silver field. To the dexter, a rocky shore in red issuing from a wavy sea and extending from the point that supports a tower (which is the tower of Penedo), also in red. To the sinister, three red hills conjoined in fess, the center one the highest, issuing from a base barry wavy of eight, blue and white, which is the seafront of Pôrto Calvo. On a chief wavy blue, three silver Alagoas tench, one and two. For supporters, to the dexter a stalk of sugar-cane and to sinister a branch of cotton, with bolls and flowers, both proper. Above the shield, a silver five-pointed star as a crest. Below, a green scroll edged in yellow with the motto Ad Bonum et Prosperitatem in gold letters.

Source: Isabel Loureiro de Albuquerque, Notas sobre a história de Alagoas (Maceió: SERGASA, 1989), p. 247, quoted at www.brasilrepublica.hpg.ig.com.br.
Joseph McMillan, 10 July 2002

Former Flag of Alagoas

image by Joseph McMillan

Alagoas had a different flag from 1894 to 1963, according to Flagscan 55.
Jaume Ollé, 8 December 1999

According to Arthur Luponi, "The Flags of the States of Brazil: Alagoas," Flag Bulletin IX:3 (Summer 1970), the State of Alagoas formerly flew a flag divided vertically red and white with the original version of the state coat of arms (adopted by state decree no. 3 of 1894) on the center. It is interesting to note that the merchant marine distinguishing flag for the Province of Alagoas under the Brazilian Empire was also divided vertically red and white. Luponi does not give an adoption date. In any case, there would be a gap in usage from 1937 to 1946 when all state flags were banned; most states did not consider their flags to be restored until they took legislative action of some kind after the enactment of the 1946 federal constitution. I have found no such legislative action by Alagoas until the revised coat of arms and new flag were adopted in 1963.
Joseph McMillan, 17 August 2002

Clovis Ribeiro's 1933 magnum opus, Brazões e Bandeiras do Brasil, covers the state flags in existence at the time in as much detail as Ribeiro could gather through correspondence with the various state governments, and he says that Alagoas had not adopted a state flag. This is not necessarily dispositive--he may not have had complete information, or a flag might have been in use unofficially. Nevertheless, it is worth noting.
Joseph McMillan, 19 August 2002