Pernambucan Revolution, 1817 (Brazil)

Revolução Pernambucana

Last modified: 2004-12-29 by joe mcmillan
Keywords: brazil | rainbow | star (yellow) | stars: 3 (yellow) | sun | cross (latin | red) |
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by Jaume Ollé
Introduced 21 March 1817

• About the Flag of the Pernambucan Revolution
• Variant Flags
• Background on the Pernambucan Revolution

• Pernambuco
• Historic Brazilian Revolutionary and Separatist Flags
• Index of Brazil Pages

According to Clovis Ribeiro, pp. 135-141, the flag of the 1817 Pernambucan Revolution had its origin in the requirement for a flag to replace the Portuguese flag that had been hauled down from the Recife fort after the provisional government took control of the city. The government originally considered hoisting the French tricolor, but instead appointed a committee under the chairmanship of Father João Ribeiro Pessoa to develop a design. The design was copied in watercolor by the Rio de Janeiro artist Antônio Álvares--a painting that still existed when Ribeiro was writing in the 1930s--essentially the same as the modern state flag with the field dark blue over white, a single star above the rainbow. The flags were produced by the tailor José Barbosa, who was also a captain in the militia. The first flag was publicly blessed by the dean of the Recife cathedr