Last modified: 2003-07-05 by joe mcmillan
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![[Flag of the Empire of Brazil (1822-1889)]](../images/b/br-1822.gif)
by Simon J. Frame, modified by Joseph McMillan
See also :
The flag of 1822 was green with a yellow lozenge (like today), but with the
arms in the center.
Mark Sensen, 5 December 1995
The flag for the Brazilian Empire (1822-1889) was a green field, with
a large yellow rhombus that stretches itself to the edges of the flag
(unlike the current Brazilian flag). Inside the rhombus lies the Brazilian
Empire´s coat of arms. This coat of arms is similarly shaped to the Portuguese one (we may
remember that the Brazilian Empire was ruled by the Portuguese royal dynasty
that fled from Portugal during the Napoleonic invasions, but its badge is green.
It shows a blue circular band, with 20 stars. Inside this blue circular band,
we see the earth´s globe and, over it, a Cross of the Order of Christ (again, very typical
of Portuguese iconography). Above the coat of arms, we see the crown of the Empire
(worn by Emperors Pedro I and II), of which I have seen at least four different renditions
(either in history books, web pages, and flag books). Around the coat of arms, we see
coffee and tobacco branches.
Guillermo Tell Aveledo,10 February 2001
According to William Crampton, The World of Flags: A Pictorial
History, on page 126, the yellow lozenge on the imperial flag did not go out
to the edges of the flag but left green all around it, just as the present day flag of
Brazil does. This image has the lozenge right out to the edges. What is right?
Elias Granquist,8 February 2001
The flag of the Brazilian Kingdom and the Brazilian Empire had the lozenge touching
the edges. But that happened accidently, as nearly no manufacturer had read the
description of the flag, which spoke of a green parallelogram, and
therein a golden rhomboid (parallelogramo verde e nelle inscripto um
quadrilátero rhomboidal côr de ouro). Old flags in museums are all
of the same pattern with parallelogram to the edges. So William Crampton showed the de
jure flag which was never in use. But even more complicated: as far as I know the decree of
1 December 1822 to
introduce an imperial crown was not followed or not enforced. Clovis Ribeiro, in
Brasões e Bandeiras do Brasil (São Paulo, 1933), shows
the "imperial flag" with a king's crown and writes that the emperor
himself had flags sent to São Paulo on 6 December 1822 to give them the
correct flag. Those flags bore the king's crown.
Ralf Stelter, 8 February 2001
The French Navy's 1858 Album des Pavillons, the
US Navy's
1870 and 1882 Flags of Maritime Nations, and the
German Navy's 1885 Die Flaggen der Kriegs- und Handels-Marinen aller Staaten der Erde,
and the 1889 edition of the
British Admiralty's flag book all show this flag
with an imperial-style crown, as shown in Simon Frame's image above. Furthermore, the
Brazilian Senate's official website has a photo of an actual imperial flag used in the
war against Paraguay, also with an imperial crown.
Joseph McMillan, 17 April 2001
The website www.piraque.org.br [no longer on line--Ed.]
says that the designer of the flag was the French painter and designer Jean
Baptiste Debret, who was a prominent figure in Brazilian cultural
life between 1816 and 1831.
Joseph McMillan, 15 April 2001
According to the
Brazilian Boy Scouts site, the
lozenge on the imperial national flag, and by extension
on the modern flag, was inspired by the designer's familiarity with French military
colors of the period (the designer was the French painter Jean-Baptiste
Debret). Many of these flags were similar to the honorary jack now used by French
naval ships named after vessels of the Free French Navy in WWII--
parted vertically blue and red with a white lozenge throughout reaching the edges
dividing the blue and red. This site explains the difference
between the imperial and republic lozenges by noting that the imperial decree on the
flag specified that the lozenge would be inscrito (inscribed)
on the green field, while the republican decree specifies that it is colocado
(located) on the field. It connects the celestial sphere with white band
on the modern flag with the blue orb with white band atop the crown on the
imperial flag.
Joseph McMillan, 17 April 2001
According to Clovis Ribeiro's Brazões e bandeiras do Brasil (1933),
page 91, the shape of the shield on this flag varied over the years. At times different shapes
were used for different purposes. The image at the top of the page shows the shape of shield
used between 1849 and
1889.
Joseph McMillan, 20 August 2002
![[Imperial Standard (Brazil)]](../images/b/br-imp2.gif)
by Devereaux Cannon
Source:US Navy Bureau of Navigation, Flags of Maritime Nations (1882).
Both this source and the French Navy's 1858
Album des Pavillons show this flag with
the coat of arms all in gold, the charges outlined and detailed in dark gold/green.
As in the case of the national flag, the crown is imperial in style with pearls
on the arches.
Album des Pavillons gives the proportions as approximately 4:7.
Joseph McMillan, 17 April 2001
imp.gif)
by Velez Grilo
In the illustration of the Brazilian flag in
Flags of Maritime Nations
(US Secretary
of the Navy, Bureau of Navigation, 1882), there are 20 stars on the coat of arms.
Devereaux Cannon, 9 October 1999
In Crampton's World of Flags (1990),
there is an old picture of the flag
of the Brazilian Emperor bearing this coat of arms. The blue ring has 19 stars.
Dylan Crawfoot, 9 October 1999
On 18 September 1822, Dom Pedro I signed three decrees that were the first acts
of independent Brazil. The third decree created the coat of arms and flag:
"...henceforth the arms of this Kingdom of Brazil will be, on a green field, a gold
armillary sphere superimposed on a cross of the Order of Christ, the
sphere encircled by 19 silver stars on a blue circle; and a royal crown
with diamonds set atop
the shield, the sides of which will be embraced by two plants of
coffee and tobacco, as emblems of its [the Kingdom's] riches, in
their proper colors and tied at the bottom with the national
bow-knot." Later, and without any official legal act, Emperor Dom Pedro II
increased the number of stars to 20 to reflect the loss of the
province of Cisplatina in 1829 and the creation of the provinces of
Amazonas in 1850 and Paraná in 1853.
Source:
www.piraque.org.br
Joseph McMillan, 15 April 2001