14 Sept 2016

Paraíba (Brazil)

A commenter called Bruno Rodolfo asked about designs for a new Paraíba state flag.

When I had a series for new Brazilian flags, I argued that Paraíba hasn't one of the best flag designs, but I'd keep it for its important link to history. However, this link to history is being strongly desconstructed last years.

This is current Paraíba flag:

It was adopted in 1930 to mourn the murder of João Pessoa, then-governor of Paraíba and running candidate for vice-president of Brazil. For similar reasons, the state capital was also renamed "João Pessoa".

Many argue against the flag currently, because: it represents only negative feelings; the murder had more passional than political reasons; his death was catalyst for a coup d'etat that gave birth to dictatorship.

Some of those favor new designs, but it seems that most of them favor the previous state flag:

The design is certainly lighter. The shield is pointless, especially the text, but it seems to have inspired state coat of arms. My first design was mere simplification of current flag, emphasizing Republican symbolism:

My next design used the colonial arms of Paraíba, often found in the heraldry of the state, on a fancy-shaped shield:

The second design is symmetrical, simple, apolitical and has all the colors of national flag. The coat of arms supposedly contains six sugar breads, representing the historical importance of sugarcane in state economy.

Bonus: a tongue-in-cheek design I once design, just to prove a point. Hint: the text in current flag reads "I DENY" in Portuguese, even though current ortography is identical to a N-word. It wasn't made for serious purposes, but still better than current design.

Comments and suggestions are welcome.
I'd link to thank Bruno Rodolfo for his precious suggestion.

5 comments:

  1. Thank you for doing this Leonardo. (Em nosso idioma, muito obrigado Leonardo. Cada vez mais os paraibanos requerem uma nova bandeira e uma desvinculação do Estado com a pessoa de João Pessoa.

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  2. And I'd like to suggest you to make a new flag for the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina that respects its history.

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  3. These ideas for new flags for Paraíba were very nice. I've always been very interested in this subject, so much so that I also did some sketches.

    Essas ideias para uma nova bandeira para a Paraíba ficaram muito interessantes. Eu sempre me interessei muito pelo tema, tanto que também acabei fazendo alguns esboços.

    https://www.reddit.com/r/vexillology/comments/720l5g/nova_bandeira_para_a_para%C3%ADba/

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  4. João Pessoa foi assassinado por ter se envolvido com uma mulher casada e nada mais.Nunca foi herói de nada e nunca passou de um arrivista.Por isso a bandeira atual da Paraíba não representa o povo acolhedor e alegre desse estado.A antiga bandeira com listas verdes e brancas não só era mais bonita como representava muito melhor o estado paraibano.As vezes me pergunto quem teve a infeliz e estúpida ideia de criar uma bandeira horrível,vermelha e preta para o povo da Paraíba assim não entendo na minha condição de paulista de ver a bandeira do meu estado uma cópia mal feita da bandeira americana,com as cores do antigo Império Alemão e de um profundo mau gosto.Acho que pessoas que acham bandeiras tão feias assim,além de terem um profundo mau gosto devem ter algum tipo de PSICOPATIA!!

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    Replies
    1. Tanto a bandeira da Paraíba quanto a do nosso Estado Paulista nada representam amigo Anônimo.Ambas são de um profundo mal gosto de não dizem nada.Mas pelo menos os paraibanos querem a volta da bonita e verde e branca bandeira enquanto aqui em São Paulo se insiste nessa mortalha horrível!

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Every comment is greatly welcome!