Portugal - 1143 historical flag

Heraldic banner of King Afonso Henriques

Last modified: 2005-08-26 by jorge candeias
Keywords: portugal | kingdom of portugal | reino de portugal | afonso henriques |
Links: FOTW homepage | search | disclaimer and copyright | write us | mirrors

by António Martins

• Flag of 1143

• Portugal
• Portugal - historical flags

Flag of 1143

This is the heraldic banner of King Afonso Henriques, a blue cross on a silver background.

António Martins, 21 May 1997

The Grande Enciclopédia Portuguesa e Brasileira shows this flag with the cross not touching the flag borders (like Switzerland). In any case it is a reconstruction of a supposed flag.

Mario Fabretto, 22 May 1997

Yes -- that vexillological error is widely known to be restricted to that particular source. All other agree about "de prata cruz firmada de blau", as in my picture. But, being a reconstruction, maybe everybody is simply perpetuating an error… On the other hand, crosses stretched till the edge were much more common these days (and nowadays…).

António Martins, 22 May 1997