Last modified: 2006-02-25 by santiago dotor
Keywords: jack | banner of arms | castle (yellow) | lion: rampant (red) | stripes: 9 (yellow-red) | chain (yellow) |
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![[Jack (Spain)]](../images/e/es~j.gif)
1:1
image by Luis Miguel Arias
Flag adopted 21st January 1977
See also:
The Spanish jack is a banner of the Spanish arms (quarterly Castile, Leon, Aragon and Navarre), without either Granada on the point nor the Anjou inescutcheon. The Spanish term for jack is torrotito or more properly bandera de tajamar. Source: Calvo and Grávalos 1983.
Santiago Dotor, 28 December 1998
First adopted in the Reglamento de Banderas, Insignias y Distintivos (Flags, Rank and Distinguishing Flags Regulation) of 11th October 1945.
Santiago Dotor, 27 February 2001
Please note that the Spanish jack is not simply a square banner-of-arms derived from the current model of arms. It is described and illustrated in both the 1945 regulation and the 1977 decree. The image in Pedersen 1971 [ped71] follows closely the 1945 Decree. The very similar description of the jack in the 1977 decree has never been thereafter abolished.
There is an —apparently recent— picture of the jack in actual use in Símbolos de España 1999 [cpc99], p. 360, and it looks very much like the one in the Decree, with the following mistakes which I believe are the manufacturer's artistic license:
The image of the jack in Album des Pavillons 2000 [pay00] is quite imprecise, since it —mistakenly— uses the same elements (squarish castle, unheraldic lion) and colours as the coat-of-arms.
Santiago Dotor, 4 September 2001
Spanish vexillologist Luis Miguel Arias sent a letter to the Spanish Ministry of Defence regarding the colour of the lion on the naval jack. His request was forwarded to the Public Relations Office of the Navy GHQ (Cuartel General de la Armada) which in turn forwarded it to the Naval Museum, who answered (my abridged translation in brackets):
Madrid, 5 de diciembre de 2001In summary, the lion on the Spanish jack is definitely red, both legally and in actual use.Muy Sr. mío:
En contestación a la consulta formulada por usted sobre el actual diseño de la bandera de tajamar o torrotito, que ha tenido entrada en este Museo Naval en el día de hoy, le informo de lo siguiente:
1.- En efecto, la Ley 33/1981 de 5 de octubre, el Escudo de España, establece para el segundo cuartel, un león rampante de púrpura. [Law 33/1981 does indeed specify a purpure lion for the Spanish arms.]
2.- En lo que respecta al torrotito, las últimas disposiciones promulgadas con posterioridad al Real Decreto de 1511/1977 de 21 de enero, son la O.M.C. Def. 57, de 5 de julio que fija los tamaños de banderas y torrotitos según el desplazamiento de los buques y la publicación titulada Ceremonial Marítimo, editada por Resolución Com. 600/80001/88, de fecha 14 de septiembre de 1988, y que contempla las ocasiones en que debe izarse a bordo de los buques. [After the Royal Decree 1511/1977, the only legislation affecting the jack refers to flag sizes and hoisting times.]
3.- No existe por tanto ninguna disposición que modifique la descripción del torrotito que figura en el Real Decreto de 1977 por el que se aprueba el Reglamento de Banderas y Estandartes, Guiones, Insignias y Distintivos, en el que se establece para su segundo cuartel un león rampante de gules (rojo). [Thus there is no legislation modifying the description of the jack in the 1977 decree, which specifies a Gules (red) lion for the second quarter.]
4.- Al objeto de verificar el color rojo del león indicado en el párrafo anterior, se ha formulado consulta personal con algún buque de la Armada, ratificando que el actual torrotito que existe a bordo utiliza el color rojo para el león rampante. [Some Navy vessels have been contacted as an additional check, and they have confirmed that the actual jacks used show a red lion.]
Atentamente,
Fernando Riaño Lozano
Museo Naval
Almirante Director
Santiago Dotor, 11 December 2001