Basque Nationalist Movements (Spain)

Last modified: 2001-09-08 by santiago dotor
Keywords: spain | politics | herri batasuna | ikurriña | euskal herritarrok | euskadi ta askatasuna | eta | map | arrows: 2 (red) | text: basque |
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• Herri Batasuna
• Euskadi Ta Askatasuna / ETA
• Euskal Presoak Euskal Herrira

See also:

• Spanish political parties and movements
• Basque Country (Spain)
• Spain

by Jaume Ollé

Herri Batasuna coalition uses a flag based on that of Euskadi, but with nine colours. It is the principal political movement of the MLNV (Basque National Liberation Movement), which includes also social organizations, trade unions, youth, women, and even the terrorist ETA.

Jaume Ollé, 19 February 1997

Last night CBC ran a special documentary on the Basque activities. There was one interview done in which there was an interesting variant of the Ikurrina was seen - both crosses were white, making eight triangles, each of which was coloured differently: (from upper hoist, clockwise) orange, yellow, light green, dark green, blue, purple, marroon, red.

Rob Raeside, 7 April 1998

The flag of Herri Batasuna was posted some time ago, but currently Herri Batasuna is merged with other nationalist Basque groups, and created the coalition Euskal Herritarrok that uses a white flag with red stripe at bottom. In the white, the letters EH in black and, in the red, the party name in white.

Jaume Ollé, 10 October 1998

There is no such thing as an ETA flag. ETA being a terrorist group outlawed in both France and Spain, its members have no occasion to display flags or —as they would perhaps wish— military colours. When press releases carried out by terrorists have been recorded on video to be handed out to the press —very occasionally, never more than once a year— they have sometimes used as background a dark sheet with the ETA emblem (a snake and an axe) and sometimes the letters ETA beneath it. But that does not make it a flag.

Pro-terrorist demonstrations —where everybody carrying a flag chooses the Basque flag— usually reach their climax with a similar sheet being briefly displayed, held from its upper corners by two individuals wearing hoods. That does not make it a flag either.

It is not intended to be a flag, it is not used as a flag and it is not displayed as a flag. (...) There is not a single instance of it being used — other than as a tablecloth carried by hand — never displayed from a mast, flying from a halyard or hung from a crossbar as a proper flag or banner. (...) All reports I have seen of ETA terrorists being buried show their coffins covered with the Basque flag.

Santiago Dotor, 27 and 29 December 2000

by Vincent Morley

[During a recent vacation, I noticed that] in San Sebastián was commonly seen a mainly white flag with a black map of the Basque region that was flown in support of an agitation for the transfer of ETA [a terrorist organization] prisoners from jails throughout Spain and France to prisons in the Basque country. This must have been mass produced as all of these flags seemed to be identical in size and shape. It should be noted that the map is not that of the autonomous Basque region, Euzkadi, but also includes Navarre and the French Basque country.

Vincent Morley, 9 October 1999

The writing EUSKAL PRESOAK EUSKAL HERRIRA means the Basque prisoners to the Basque Country. This flag has letters and a map, both unreversable elements. How did this flag's reverse look like, Vincent?

António Martins, 13 October 1999

The same. All the flags that I saw were identical in size and design and must have been produced in large numbers. I would guess that the writing was printed. That is, the reverse had exactly the same design, mirrored for correct reading

Vincent Morley, 17 and 19 October 1999