Last modified: 2003-03-01 by joe mcmillan
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![[Flag of Paraíba (Brazil)]](../images/b/br-pb.gif)
7:10 by Zeljko Heimer and António Martins
Adopted 25 September 1930
Paraíba's flag honors the political events which involved João Pessoa [namesake
of the state's capital city--ed.], the Liberal Alliance Party, and the Revolution of 1930. The inscription
"NÉGO" printed in white characters on a red background originates from the
contrary position adopted by Paraíba concerning the candidacy of
Julio Prestes for the Presidency of the Republic, sent by telegram in answer
to the consultation made by Mr. Tavares Cavalcanti, intermediator of the
Catete Palace. The black color expresses the mourning the state wore after the assassination
of João Pessoa--at that time President of Paraíba--by João
Dantas in Recife on 26 July 1930. Thus the Revolution of 1930 began. Finally, the red color pays homage
to the victorious revolution itself which, starting in Paraíba, spread all
over the south, headed by Getúlio Vargas, and culminated in the deposition
of Washington Luis as President of the Republic.
Zeljko Heimer, 13 March 1996
The flag of the state is the work of the Party of the Liberal Alliance, of which
João Pessoa was the leader. The word NÉGO,
translated "I deny," refers to the attitude
of Paraíba against the candidacy of Julio Prestes for the presidency.
Jaume Ollé, 28 June 1996
More about the flag can be found on
http://parai.com.br/historia/simbolos.htm.
"Elso," 13 December 1999
When the state legislature first passed the bill adopting this flag, the bill was
vetoed by the state president, Álvaro de Carvalho, who had succeeded Pessoa. Carvalho
was doing his best to get federal assistance to put down the landowners' uprising that
had begun earlier that year as well as the revolutionary ferment throughout the state
that had been triggered by the assassination of Pessoa. Adoption of a red
(communist) and black (anarchist) flag was scarcely an action likely to gain
sympathy in Rio. Nevertheless, the assembly overrode his veto--which
definitively split Carvalho from the revolutionary rank and
file--and the new flag was adopted by law 704 of 25 September 1930. Within weeks, the
federal government of President Washington Luiz de Souza fell from power and
Getúlio Vargas took over control of the country.
Joseph McMillan, 3 September 2002
The image I'm sending along is mostly Zeljko Heimer's image, to which I added
the acute accent mark on the letter "E." This was confirmed to me by Brazilian
vexillologist Carlos Noronha. In fact, the word nego, shouldn't have that particular
accent mark, as far as my knowledge
of Portuguese orthography, both here and in Brazil, both now and back in
the thirties, when this flag appeared--but it does. Carlos further also confirms the particular squarish
typeface.
António Martins, 19 May 1998
I can also confirm the accent, which appears in all the official Brazilian
documentation about the topic.
Jaume Ollé, 23 May 1998
by Falko Schmidt
Apparently, Paraíba adopted a flag quite early after establishment of the
republic in 1889. Falko Schmidt and Jaume Ollé have both sent me images of
the same flag, which I believe they got from Michel Lupant: 13 green and
white horizontal stripes with a large gold disk on the center bearing the
then-arms of the state, a white shield with the founding date of the colony
of Parahyba (5 August 1585) surrounded by a blue bordure bearing 16 white
stars, and a Phrygian cap for a crest.
Joseph McMillan, 3 September 2002
![Paraíba (Brazil), pre-1930](../images/b/br-pb1.gif")
by Joseph McMillan
Clovis Ribeiro's 1933 book, Brazões e
Bandeiras do Brasil,
says the flag of Paraíba from this period was blue and white, so we
have an apparent inconsistency to be resolved. In any case, Ribeiro notes
that the original flag was abolished by law in 1922.
Joseph McMillan, 3 September 2002
A set of cards of Brazilian state flags, found by Falko Schmidt at
www.brasilcult.pro.br,
issued with bars of Eucalol soap in the 1930s, includes a card for Parahyba (the then-current spelling of the
state)
with both the current flag adopted in 1930 and
a white and blue vertical bicolor. The two are shown flying on one pole, the white and blue one on top. This is
the same design as was used for the 19th century merchant ship registration pennant
for Parahyba do Norte, the state's name when it was an imperial province. I'm not sure how all this
squares with the green and white flag reported above.
Joseph McMillan, 6 February 2003
by Joseph McMillan
The Paraíba legislative assembly originally passed a different red and black
flag in September 1930 before settling on the present one. The year of 1930 was a
tumultuous one in Paraíba, beginning with a civil war launched by large landowners in
opposition to the reforming government of João Pessoa, president of the
state--especially his efforts to collect taxes due on cotton exports. After
Pessoa was murdered in July, there were riots and looting throughout
the state, with militia, police, and army units taking various sides in the conflict.
The state legislative assembly essentially transformed itself into a
revolutionary convention, among other things voting to change the name of
the state capital to honor the slain chief executive. So on 9 September,
the assembly passed a law adopting a state flag consisting of an unspecified
number of horizontal red and black stripes, each 1:10, with a red canton
occupying 1/8 the area of the flag and bearing a circular version of the
arms from the earlier flag and the inscriptions "29 de julho de 1929" and "NÉGO."
Above is a hypothetical reconstruction of this flag; the math works out fairly
closely with seven stripes and a square canton three stripes deep, but this
version could be way off given the imprecision of the description. I assume the
new state president, Álvaro de Carvalho, vetoed this bill, as he did the later one
adopting the present flag.
Joseph McMillan, 3 September 2002
by Joseph McMillan
Some states had old maritime ensigns in the 19th century, including Paraíba (also spelled Parahiba
at the time).
Jaume Ollé, 8 December 1999
The French Navy's Album de Pavillons of 1858 shows
a set of galhardetes
(normally translated pennants) flown by Brazilian merchant ships to indicate their province of origin.
The galhardetes were rectangular, approximately 1:6. They were all simple geometric patterns,
more or less like signal flags.
Joseph McMillan, 17 April 2001