Tierra del Fuego province (Argentina)

Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas del Atlántico Sur

Last modified: 2002-09-28 by antonio martins
Keywords: tierra del fuego | albatross | fire | stars: 5 | star: 5 points (white) | stars: southern cross | competition | penguin | irredentist | falkland islands | malvinas | claim | south georgia | south sandwich |
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• Presentation of the province
• History of the flag
• Coat of arms
• Malvinas’ flag?

• Argentina
• Argentine provinces
• Clickable map of argentine provinces

• Jaume Ollé’s page about Tierra del Fuego flags

The province consists officially of:

• Tierra del Fuego (on mainland South America)
• the Argentine claim to the Antarctic continent
• and the Argentine claim to the Falkland Islands, the South Georgia Islands and the South Sandwich Islands (in Spanish: Islas Malvinas, Islas Georgias del Sur, Islas Sandwich del Sur)

It is known that Argentina, in order to add strength to it’s claim over the british territories of Falklands Islands and South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands and also to it’s antarctic claim (25°W to 74°W, overlapping the british and chilean claims), joined all these territories to it’s (undisputed) mainland province of “Fireland”, under the common name «Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas del Atlántico Sur». (Morocco did something similar with Western Sahara, and the trick is not new in the history of annexations and claims.)
António Martins, 21 Dec 1999

In June 1999 was celebrated contest about new flag of the province of Tierra del Fuego. The winning flag was designed by Teresa Beatriz Martínez, an architect from Entre Ríos. The design is called «the Albatross». The orange part, fire color, stands fro the geography of the larger island. The blue color stands for the sky and the sea surrounding this province and bonds it to the national flag; the stars of the Southern Cross, which guided so many travellers to these regions, also symbolize the southern location of the islands and other territorial elements taht make up the province. The Albatross is a local bird and its flight symbolizes freedom. The provinces and regions of Southern Chile and Argentina selected similar patterns and colors.
Jaume Ollé, 01 Jul 1999, 18 Jan 2000 and 10 Aug 2000

Untill the adoption of a local emblem, the national coat of arms was used in the territory. In April 26th, 1990, by law 23.775, the Territory of Tierra del Fuego, Antartida e Islas del Atlantico Sur was upgraded to province status and the new emblem was adopted in short term.
Jaume Ollé, 10 Aug 2000

According to Roman Klimeš in [klm99], the current arms of the territory were devised by Rosana Giménez and introduced on 24 December 1992. The red “garland” around the shield is in fact a flaming glory (aurora). The supporter is an albatros (Klimeš wrote Gules but it is Azure, since his image matches the above).
Ivan Sache, 04 May 2001

The provincial coat of arms: an oval shield (?) featuring a local landscape, with four emperor penguins in foreground against a background with a setting (or rising?) sun behind a mountain over a rocky shore (fjord?); shield encircled with a stylized red aurora and the whole is set on the breast of a highly stylized blue albatross.
António Martins, 21 Dec 1999

According to [klm99], the first arms for the territory were introduced during the International Geophysical Year (which covered two years, 1957-1958). They appear on a first-day cover on 12 July 1958. Description is Azure (of the shade of the national flag), a Fess Argent: in Chief, a cartographic depiction of the territory Argent, flanked in Dexter by an Anchor Argent with a Sun Or and a Phrygian Cap Gules and in Sinister by th Southern Cross Argent; in Base, an Iceberg and a sailing Ship upon icy Waters; above the Shield a rising Sun in its Glory Or. The supporters are tow Penguins proper standing on a compartment of Ice. On the compartment is a Scroll of the Argentinian national Colours.
Ivan Sache, 04 May 2001

Three equal horizontal stripes of dark blue - red - celeste, with the map of islands in yellow or golden in the red part. This flag was reported by Banderas [ban], and is not sure that was a “provincial” flag, but perhaps an “military zone” flag.
Jaume Ollé, 26 Sep 1998, 02 Oct 1998, 25 Dec 1999 and 01 Jan 2000

This was later identified as a british (not argentine!!) military flag (Falkland triservice flag?).
António Martins, 20 Jul 2001