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Trás-os-Montes autonomist movement (Portugal)

image by António Martins

About the flag

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About the flag

In 1978 emerged in NE Portugal a regionalist movement that used a quite interesting flag: a horizontal tricolor of green, red and black, with a two pointed stylized black mountain on the red stripe. This intends to sybolize the NE region of Portugal, sugestively called Trás-os-Montes, i.e., beyond the mountains. Portuguese heraldist Simas de Azevedo (which proposes in [azv9X] this design for the new administravive region) interprets the horizontal tricolor as an influence of the spanish autonomic flags of Extremadura and Andalucia,but I find it stretchy… This regionalist movement had a quite small agenda at the beggining: they called themselves Comissão de Luta e pró-Unidade Militar and demanded the reopening of a large local military facility — but soon this organization presented itself as the embryo of a future Comissão pró-Autonomia do Nordeste Transmontano, i.e., a committee in favour of the over-the-mountain northeast autonomy. But, alas, as quick as it appeared it faded out — and nowadays is quite dificult to find information about this particular organization, one among many other shortlived ones in those restless portuguese late seventies.
António Martins, 22 Dec 1997

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