Country flag
Portugal Flag
Portugal’s national flag is a green-and-red vertical bicolour carrying the national arms on an armillary sphere at the division of the fields. Article 1...
Where is Portugal?
The highlighted area marks the country on the world map.
About Portugal and its flag
Portugal’s national flag is a green-and-red vertical bicolour carrying the national arms on an armillary sphere at the division of the fields. Article 11 of the Constitution describes it as the symbol of the Republic’s sovereignty and of Portugal’s independence, unity and integrity, and identifies it with the Republic established in 1910.
Flag design and meaning
The flag is rectangular in a 2:3 proportion. Dark green occupies the two-fifths nearest the hoist and scarlet the remaining three-fifths. Across their boundary sits a white-edged national shield over a yellow armillary sphere with black outlining; the shield includes five blue escutcheons and a red border with seven castles.
- The national flag as a whole: Portugal’s Constitution identifies the flag as a symbol of the Republic’s sovereignty and of the country’s independence, unity and integrity.
- Armillary sphere and blue escutcheons: In its 1910 design proposal, the appointed commission presented the armillary sphere as an emblem of Portuguese adventurous spirit and linked the blue escutcheons to the foundation of Portuguese nationality. This records that commission’s stated rationale.
History and adoption
Red and green had been associated with the movement of 31 January 1891. During the October 1910 revolution they were used in a different arrangement; a commission appointed on 15 October put green at the hoist in its October proposal, which the government approved on 29 November. The Constituent Assembly’s decree of 19 June 1911 formally described the flag, followed by technical specifications later that month.
How to recognise this flag
- Find the narrower green section at the hoist and the broader red section at the fly.
- The detailed arms straddle the colour boundary rather than sitting wholly inside either field.
- The yellow armillary sphere behind the shield is a distinctive feature, especially when compared with other green-and-red flags.
Portugal flag quiz context
On Name The Flag, the Portugal flag is currently grouped as easy difficulty for quiz progression.
Its region is listed as Europe, which helps place the country among nearby geography questions in the game.
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