My National Covers
Every now and then I have the opportunity to add what I call a "National Cover" to my collection.
These are nothing fancy. In fact they are but covers that I print at home with the flag and coat of arms of a specific country and which I then either send to a fellow collector who is willing to help or give to friends or family or take my own self whenever travelling abroad, in the hope that these might find a way to a local post office to get a stamp and a postmark.
I will be adding these to a new "My National Covers" section in this blog.
If you don't see your country here and are willing to help me add your own country's national cover to my collection, please email me at pnsoares1@gmail.com.
You'll get a cover from Portugal (if you want I'll be happy to print a Portuguese National Cover just like the ones I print for myself, although in a somewhat larger envelope) and a printed envelope with the relevant symbols printed, so that you can then return it to me.
Thanks a lot.
Note: Whenever possible I will try to transcribe the flag and coat of arms information from the relevant national site. Failing that I'll transcribe from Wikipedia.
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Kingdom of Spain / Reino de España
Pursuant to Article 4.1 of the Spanish Constitution of 1978, "the Spanish National Flag consists of three horizontal stripes - red, yellow and red, each red stripe being half the width of the central yellow stripe".
The origin of the current Spanish Flag dates back to the reign of Carlos III of Spain (1759-1788). Three types of flag coexisted in Spain at the time: the royal standard, the military flags and the Spanish navy jack. Most countries were using jacks that were predominantly white. This caused identification problems and confusion between warships at sea. To solve this problem, Carlos III of Spain commissioned his Minister of the Navy, Antonio Valdés y Bazán, with designing a replacement for the Spanish navy jack.
The king chose two of the 12 sketches presented to him - on which he adjusted the dimensions of the stripes. He declared the first to be used as the War Ensign and the second as the Civil Ensign by means of the Royal Decree of 28 May 1785.
During the reign of Carlos IV of Spain (1788-1808), the General Orders on the Spanish Navy of 8 March 1793 made extensive use of the so-called red-weld flag [from rojigualda and the more archaic use of gualda to refer to the colour of the central yellow stripe] in maritime plazas, castles and coastal defences, and it became known as the Royal Flag.
A phenomenon emerged during the Spanish War of Independence (1808-1814), in which a series of non-regulation flags proliferated. A number of sailors lent their services to terrestrial campaigns and, for the first time, bi-colour ensigns were seen throughout inland Spain.
Under the reign of Queen Isabel II of Spain (1833-1868), use of the bi-colour flag spread to the Army and the Spanish flag was thus unified. The Royal Decree of 13 October 1843 provides for the replacement of all flags, standards and badges, and military ensigns with other new red-weld ones.
Subsequently, the Instructions on Navy ensigns, flags, honours and salutes, of 13 March 1867 once again explicitly describes the flag to be used by ships, arsenals and maritime plazas.
Amadeo I of Spain (1871-1873) respected the heraldry of the Spanish Flag. During the First Republic (1873-1874), plans were drawn up to include a purple stripe to replace the lower red stripe. However, no change was actually made.
During the reign of Alfonso XII of Spain (1874-1885), an Instruction on naval ensigns, flags, honours and salutes was enacted on 10 December 1878. Article One of this document defines the national flag in the same terms as the aforementioned Instruction of 1867.
Under the Interim Government during the Second Republic (1931-1939), a decree was enacted on 27 April 1931 requiring the adoption of a tricolour national flag comprising "three horizontal strips of equal width; the upper being red, the central being yellow and the lower being dark purple".
Shortly after the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), the red-weld flag was reinstated among rebel troops. After the Military Uprising (18 July 1936), a number of different flags proliferated among troops. To prevent this, the Chairman of the National Defence Council - General Cabanellas - signed the Decree of 29 August 1936 whereby the traditional flag was recovered. The Sole Article of this document states: "The red and weld bi-colour flag is re-established as the Flag of Spain".
A few years later, during the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco (1939-1975), the Decree of 11 October 1945 approved the New Regulations on Ensigns, Flags and Badges that governs their use and form, and defined the characteristics of the three types of National Flag for units of the Armed Forces, warships and buildings.
Following the death of Franco in 1975 and the restoration of the House of Bourbon through King Juan Carlos I of Spain, these Regulations were replaced by Royal Decree 1511/1977, of 21 January, which approves the Regulations on Flags and Standards, Crosses, Ensigns and Badges.
Current legislation is based on the Spanish Constitution of 1978, which defines the Spanish Flag in its Article 4.1.
The Coat of Arms
The current Spanish Coat of Arms reflects much of the country's history. The elements of which it is composed have a long tradition dating back more than nine centuries.
The heraldic process of the Coat of Arms of Spain has passed through the following periods:
The Trastámara Dynasty: The Coat of Arms of the Catholic Monarchs (1474-1492) was composed of the Coat of Arms of the Kingdoms of Castile, Leon and the Crown of Aragon. After the conquest of Granada, the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Granada was incorporated.
The Habsburg Dynasty: Initially (1504-1506) it included the arms of Bourgogne, Flanders, Brabant and Tyrol. Carlos I stamped the coat of arms with the imperial crown and added the Pillars of Hercules and the motto "Plus Ultra", as well as the Golden Fleece. Felipe II, Felipe III and Felipe IV and Carlos II, whose reigns lasted from 1556 to 1700, used this coat of arms without the imperial crown. In 1580, Felipe II incorporated the arms of Portugal.
The Bourbon-Anjou Dynasty: The coat of arms of Felipe V (1700-1759) incorporated the fleur-de-lis of the house of Bourbon with an outline in gules (red). It continued to use the Golden Fleece and added the Order of the Holy Spirit in form of a necklace. Carlos III (1759-1788) added the arms of the Duchies of Parma and Tuscany and replaced the Order of the Holy Spirit with the order that bears his own name. Carlos IV used his father's model.
Bonaparte Dynasty: José I divided the shield into six quarterings: 1 Castile, 2 Leon, 3 Aragon, 4 Navarre, 5 Granada and 6 the New World, represented by the Pillars of Hercules. He also added an inescutcheon with the Bonaparte coat of arms.
The Bourbon-Anjou Dynasty: Fernando VII recovered the coat of arms of his ancestors and his daughter Isabel II used the same model.
Provional Government (1868-1870): A ruling by the Royal Academy of History unified the Coat of Arms of Spain with the following quarterings: 1 Castile, 2 Leon, 3 Aragon, 4 Navarre and 5 Granada. It drew a nebuly, stamped it with a mural crown, removed the shield with the coat of arms of the Bourbon-Anjou dynasty and added the Pillars of Hercules, without crowns.
The Savoy Dynasty (1870-1873): Continued with the previous coat of arms, re-established the royal crown and added an inescutcheon with the family arms.
The First Republic (1873-1874): Re-established the mural crown and removed the arms of Savoy.
The Bourbon-Anjou Dynasty: Alfonso XII and Alfonso XIII re-established the royal crown and added the fleurs-de-lis with the gules (red) border of their family and incorporated the necklace of the Golden Fleece.
The Second Republica (1936-1939): Re-established the mural crown and eliminated the arms of Bourbon-Anjou, using the same arms as in the First Republic.
Dictatorship of general Franco (1938-1975): Used heraldic devices similar to those of the Catholic Monarchs, replacing the arms of Aragon-Sicily by those of Navarre, adding the Pillars of Hercules and the motto "una, grande y libre" (one, great and free).
The Transition Period (1977-1981): Royal Decree 1511/77 of 21 January, approving the Regulation on Flags, Insignia and Badges, altered the design of the motto on the coat of arms, but the main change consisted of presenting the eagle of Saint John rising, or about to take flight, shielding the Pillars of Hercules under his wings, rather than outside as previously.
This coat of arms was in force from 1977 until it was replaced by the current one in 1981, under Law 33/1981, of 5 October, governing the Coat of Arms of Spain.
The coat of arms of Spain represents Spain and the Spanish nation, including its national sovereignty and the country's form of government, a constitutional monarchy. It appears on the flag of Spain and it is used by the Government of Spain, the Cortes Generales, the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court, and other state institutions. Its design consists of the arms of the medieval kingdoms that would unite to form Spain in the 15th century, the Royal Crown, the arms of the House of Bourbon, the Pillars of Hercules and the Spanish national motto: Plus Ultra.
The Stamp
José Saramago (1922-2010) was, to this date, Portugal's sole recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature, for a vast body of literary work which includes such magnificent books as "Memorial do Convento" (Baltasar and Blimunda) or "O ano da morte de Ricardo Reis" (The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis) or "Caim" (Cain), to name but three of his best known novels.
Further to novels, Saramago also authored poetry, theatre, essays and even a well respected sort of intimate travel book: "Viagem a Portugal" (Journey to Portugal)
Loved by some, hated by a few also, Saramago was a controversial name due to his ideological and political positions, (he was a member of the rather orthodox Portuguese Communist Party).
His position regarding the Catholic Church in a highly catholic country and such titles as the "O Evangelho Segundo Jesus Cristo" (The Gospel according to Jesus Christ) and "Caim" (Cain) would also earn him a fair share of enmities and, at some point in his career, he would be censored by the Portuguese Government who shamefuly withdrew his name from a list of canditates to an European literature prize.
This happened in 1991... he would win the Nobel the very next year, in 1992.
Saramago was also a defender of the integration of Portugal into an Iberian federation of Nations, which would be called Iberia not Spain, so as not to hurt Portuguese feelings.... so it is not a surprise that he would choose Spain, Lanzarote in the Canary islands to be more precise, to exile himself after the censorship episode I mentioned above. There he would live until his death in 2010.
On 15NOV2023, Correos de España issued a 1,23€ stamp in its "Literatura" series, honouring the Portuguese writer and Iberian man of culture. The stamp features a Black and White photograph of Saramago in Lanzarote.
The Postmark
The Pictorial Postmark is that of the main Post Office of Madrid, located in the sumptuous Palacio de Cibeles, the former Palacio de Telecomuniocaciones, whose façade is rendered in the postmark stamp.
The cover was sent me by none other than myself on my last visit to Madrid.
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