Flag of the Basque Country

All the details about the origin of the Flag of the Basque Country, the ikurriña.

In 1893 the Spanish minister Gamazo had the idea of raising taxes to Navarre using the “concierto económico” but the people of Navarre, a year later, staged a huge protest against Gamazo and the minister was forced to resign. This day went down in history as “la Gamazada”. Sabino Arana and his brother Luis went to Pamplona to participate in this protest and symbolize Bizkaia’s support for Navarre. For this, the two brothers made the sketch of the first ikurriña in history, but the meaning of this symbol was the representation of Bizkaia, it did not contemplate the representation of the whole of the Basque Country. The flag was composed of the red Cross of San Andrés with a white background and letters that read as follows: “Jaun Goikoa eta Lagi Zarra. Bizkaitarrak agur eiten deutse Naparrei. -God and Old Law. Bizkaia embraces Nabarra”.

At this time the brothers had created a political group that would later become the Basque Nationalist Party. On July 14, 1894 they inaugurated the batzoki called “Euskedun Batzokiya” as a cultural society (to avoid problems with the Spanish government) and at the hands of Ciriaco de Iturri, the ikurriña was hoisted for the first time in history with its current colors (designed by the Arana brothers), but representing Bizkaia.

The colors had the following meaning:

1. Red background: it referred to the coat of arms of Bizkaia and represented the people of Bizkaia. Later, it represented the Basque people.
2. The green cross: represented independence based on two elements;
   1. The tree of Gernika, defending the Biscayan charter.
   2. The green cross of San Andrés, refers to the battle that took place in Padura (Battle of Padura) in the year 870 on the day of San Andrés between the Bizkainos of that time and the Astunes. The rocky terrain was stained with blood and from that battle the place began to be called “Arrigorriaga” (red stone). The Bizkainos were victorious and it is said that from that time onwards nationalism and identity as a people increased (this territory was in the hands of the Kings of Leon and Castile).
3. The white cross: it represented God.

A few years later, the ikurriña became the symbol of Euskal Herria and in 1936 it was presented as the official flag of the Basque Country. Unfortunately, that same year there was a coup d’état in Spain led by Francisco Franco and it was banned and severely persecuted throughout the dictatorship.

After Franco’s death, the display of the flag of the Basque Country was still forbidden, but little by little it was resurfacing within the Basque population. An example of this occurred in the match between Athletic Club de Bilbao and Real Sociedad on December 5, 1976, when the captains of both teams took the ikurriña onto the field before the start of the match.

Atotxa field 1976
Inaxio Kortabarria (left) and Jose Angel Iribar (right)

On January 19, 1977 the use of the flag of the Basque Country was allowed and in 1979, thanks to the Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country, the ikurriña became the official flag of the Basque autonomous community.

Today its use is cultural, institutional and its exhibition extends between the north and center of Navarre and in the villages of the French Basque Country, symbolizing the culture, religion and language of these territories.

Here is a video about the ikurriña:

As usual in www.turismovasco.com no registration is required to comment on this article.