Paraná (Brazil)

Last modified: 2004-01-24 by joe mcmillan
Keywords: paraná | pine | mate | southern cross | diagonal | araucaria |
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7:10 by Joseph McMillan
Basic design adopted 1892; 1947 version restored 27 May 2002

• Flag of Paraná
• Historical Flags of Paraná
• Paraná Flag of 1892-1905
• Paraná Flag of 1905-1923
• Paraná Flag of 1947-1990
• Paraná Flag of 1990-2003

• Contestado Rebellion (1912-1916)
• Municipal Flags of Paraná
• Pampas Republic Separatist Movement
• Index of Brazil Pages
• Brazilian Subnational Flags

Flag of the State of Paraná

Around the sphere, a branch of pine on the observer's right side and another of erva mate on the observer's left symbolize what in earlier times represented the economical basis of the State.
Zeljko Heimer, 13 June 1996

"The flag of Paraná State was adopted by state decree no. 8 on 9 January 1892. It changed in March of 1947 and again in September of 1990. The present flag is a green rectangle, with a white strip and blue sphere. The blue sphere represents the constellation of the Southern Cross in the position where it was in the sky on 29 August 1853, the date when the province of Paraná was created by law n. 704, signed by the Brazilian Emperor Dom Pedro II. . . . The stars are Alpha crucis (Magalhães), Beta crucis (Mimosa), Gamma crucis (Rubídea), Delta crucis (pálida or pale) and Epsilon crucis (Intrometida or Nosey). Two green branches follow the curve of the sphere: one of yerva-mate (Ilex paraguariensis) on the [observer's] left and the other of pinheiro-do-Paraná (Araucaria angustifolia, or Paraná pine) on the right."
Source: Carlos Renato Fernandes, "O Paraná"
Translated by Érico Germano Hack, 3 August 1998

Usually Brazilians use the word pinheiro to refer to trees of the genus Araucaria, (the "Monkey Puzzle") or sometimes Podocarpus, while in European Portuguese it retains the meaning of "pine tree." [Erva-]Mate, or congonha, is a kind of South American holly, Ilex paraguariensis, used for timber and herbal tea.
António Martins, 16 December 2001

According to Fabio Werlang of Paraná, the flag of the state has recently been changed back to the 1947 pattern, reversing the alterations made in 1990.
Joseph McMillan, 21 March 2003

I think the main reason for the change is political. Roberto Requião, the new governor of Paraná is rival of Alvaro Dias, who was the governor back in 1990, when the flag and coat of arms were remodeled. The new governor (Requião) took over in January 2003 and one of the first things he did was to sign a law restablishing the 1947 state symbo