^{This page is part of © FOTW Flags Of The World website}

Rio Grande do Norte (Brazil)

2:3 by Joseph McMillan
Adopted 3 December 1957

Flag of the State of Rio Grande do Norte
Coat of Arms of Rio Grande do Norte
Possible Previous Flag, ca. 1930
19th Century Merchant Ship Pennant

Flag of the State of Rio Grande do Norte

The flag was created by law 2160 of 3 December 1957, sanctioned by Governor Dinarte Medeiros Mariz, being based on a design of Luis de Camara Cascudo that used elements of the "Potiguar" culture. The shield was adopted on 1 July 1909 and included in the flag.
Jaume Ollé, 2 July 1996

The flag is described in the law as "a rectangle one and a half meters by one meter [2:3] divided horizontally in the middle, the upper part of a green color identical to that of the national flag, and the lower part white. On the center of the rectangle, a yellow field in the form of a shield serving as the base for the state coat of arms, instituted by decree no. 201 of 1 July 1909."
Joseph McMillan, 11 September 2002

Coat of Arms of Rio Grande do Norte

The coat of arms is officially blazoned in decree no. 201 of 1 July 1909 as "divided at two-thirds of its height, having in the lower field the sea upon which sails a fisherman's jangada, which represents the salt and fishing industries. On the upper third, on a field of silver, two flowers on the sides and two cotton bolls in the center. Flanking the shield, throughout its height, a coconut palm to the right and a carnauba palm to the left, their trunks connected by two stalks of sugar cane, which are tied by a bow in the national colors. All the motifs of the shield, as well as the emblems, are in natural colors and represent the principal flora of the state. Above the shield is a white star symbolizing Rio Grande do Norte in the Brazilian Union."
Joseph McMillan, 11 September 2002

I don't know if the word suffered adaptations in Brazil, or in that specific zone, but jangada generically means "raft" in Portuguese. You can have different sorts of them, from elaborate things to the simplest of all: two trunks tied together.
Jorge Candeias, 12 September 2002

Jangada is used in northeastern Brazil to refer to a small shallow, keel-less wooden boat--not a raft at all but rather more like a canoe--with a flexible, forward raked mast and a triangular mainsail, used by the fishermen of the area. Such a jangada also appears in the coat of arms on the flag of Ceará.
Joseph McMillan, 12 September 2002

Possible Flag of Rio Grande do Norte, ca. 1930

by Joseph McMillan

Clovis Ribeiro gives no flag for this state as of 1933, but a set of collectible cards distributed with bars of Eucalol soap in about 1930 shows a blue over white bicolor, which is a flag version of the 19th century merchant ship registration pennant for Rio Grande do Norte. This may have been a de facto state flag.
Joseph McMillan, 13 February 2003

19th Century Merchant Ship Pennant

by Joseph McMillan

Some states had old maritime ensigns in the 19th century, including Rio Grande do Norte.
Jaume Ollé, 8 December 1999

The French Navy's Album de Pavillons of 1858 shows a set of galhardetes (normally translated pennants) flown by Brazilian merchant ships to indicate their province of origin. The galhardetes were rectangular, approximately 1:6. They were all simple geometric patterns, more or less like signal flags.
Joseph McMillan, 17 April 2001