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Car Flag for Regional President and Ministers (Catalonia, Spain)

2:3
by Santiago Dotor

Description

See also:

Catalonia (Spain)
Rank Flags (Spain)
Spain

Description

Television showed images from the President of Catalonia, Mr. Jordi Pujol, and in background I see a flag, unknow for me, that seems to be full white with the Generalitat emblem in center. This must be the Presidential flag, but I'm not sure if has more devices because image was unclear and speed, and flag is not fully visible.

Jaume Ollé, 24 May 2001

Considering the relevance of the Catalan president's position in Spain, I find it weird that the first news we have about his distinguishing flag is through a television report. There is no evidence of the presidential flag being used even in his office. I wonder whether Jaume Ollé saw a logo-on-bedsheet, maybe that of the governing party in Catalonia, Convergencia i Unió, which also shows a tree-like device with the Catalan bars.

Santiago Dotor, 24 May 2001

I'm sure that the device in center was the Generalitat emblem. Convergencia (without Unio that is a separate party coaligated with Convergencia and has separate flag) has a white flags with a green tree with red vertical bars but not yellow and Generalitat emblem is very characteristic and can be easely distinged. I'm agree that before never was see this flag, but if flag was adopted recently we will soon have more news.

Jaume Ollé, 26 May 2001

Was it the red-and-white-only version of the emblem or rather the full colour one, which appears in the Generalitat website?

Santiago Dotor, 28 May 2001

The second one. The emblem was 1/4th of the flag. I believe the ratio was 2:3.

Jaume Ollé, 28 May 2001

Using the image from the SEV, modifying the design of the leaves in the corners (since it was changed some time ago to make the emblem look both horizontally and vertically symmetrical), I have prepared a GIF of that hypothetical presidential flag. May I insist that we shall have to wait until we have confirmation of this flag. The Catalan president appears quite frequently in the Spanish media and we only a have a single report of such flag. I have checked the last month and a half issues of the DOGC (Diari Oficial de la Generalitat de Catalunya or official bulletin of the Catalan autonomous government) at their website to find no mention of such a flag.

Santiago Dotor, 29 May 2001

I asked the Catalan government about the above flag, and they wrote me:

Distinguido señor,
Me complace corresponder a su atento correo electrónico de ayer, enviado a la Secretaria General de la Presidencia de la Generalitat de Catalunya, que hace referencia a la existencia de una "Hypothetical Presidential Flag, probably non-existent", que contiene la Señal de la Generalitat sobre fondo blanco.
La Generalitat de Cataluña, institución política integrada por su Parlamento, su Gobierno y su Presidente, posee su propio símbolo llamado Señal de la Generalitat. En todos aquellos actos en los que la Generali[t]at de Catalunya está presente se suele utilizar esta señal. Existe tambié[n] la costumbre de que tanto el President como los consellers de la Generalitat de Catalunya lleven en la solapa de la americana un escudo con esta señal.
Los coches de los consejeros de la Generalitat de Catalunya, en los actos oficiales, llevan un banderín con el fondo blanco y el escudo de la Generalitat en el centro que sirven para su identificación como autoridades. Éste es el único uso que se hace, pero como bandera es inexistente. Otra cosa bien distinta es que para representar gráficamente la señal de la Generalitat se produzca la necesidad de utilizar un fondo blanco delimitado, para que destaque sobre éste.
Espero con estas líneas haber resuelto sus dudas al respecto y agradeciéndole su interés le expreso mi consideración más distinguida.
Atentamente.
Ramon Goicoechea

Following I translate the most interesting paragraph:

...The cars of the [regional] ministers (Spanish consejeros, Catalan consellers) of the Generalitat de Catalunya (Government of Catalonia), in the official acts, carry a small flag with a white field and the seal of the Generalitat in the center which serves for their identification as authorities. This is the only use that it makes, but as flag it is nonexistent...

Luis Miguel Arias, 18 September 2001

So the Catalan councillors (regional ministers) do use a car flag which has a white field with the seal (not coat-of-arms) of the Catalan goverment, but the flag "is non existant"... The last sentence says, "A very different thing is the fact that, having to graphically represent the Generalitat's seal, there is a need to use a limited white field, so that it [the seal] can stand out on top of it". According to this, none of the thousands of arms-on-bedsheets is a flag!

Santiago Dotor, 19 September 2001