Green - Green On Flags

Green On Flags

• The flag of Italy (1797) was modeled after the French tricolor. It was originally the flag of the Cisalpine Republic, whose capital was Milan; red and white were the colors of Milan, and green was the color of the military uniforms of the army of the Cisalpine Republic. Other versions say it is the color of the Italian landscape, or symbolizes hope.
• The flag of Brazil has a green field adapted from the flag of the Empire of Brazil. The green represented the royal family.
• The flag of India was inspired by an earlier flag of the independence movement of Gandhi, which had a red band for Hinduism and a green band representing Islam, the second largest religion in India.

Several countries use green on their flags for symbolic or cultural reasons. Green, for example is one of the three colors (along with red and black, or red and gold) of Pan-Africanism. Several African countries thus use the color on their flags, including Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Senegal, Mali, Ethiopia, Togo, Guinea, Benin, and Zimbabwe. The Pan-African colors are borrowed from the Ethiopian flag, one of the oldest independent African countries. Green in these cases represents the natural richness of Africa.

Many flags of the Islamic world are green, as the color is considered sacred in Islam (see below). The flag of Hamas, as well as the flag of Iran, is green, symbolizing their Islamist ideology. The 1977 flag of Libya consists of a simple green field with no other characteristics. It was the only national flag in the world with just one color and no design, insignia, or other details. In the run-up to Iran's 2009 presidential election, the reformist candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi chose green as his campaign color, and it became pervasive among his supporters during the campaign and the post-election protests.

Other countries use flags for reasons of heraldry, or to represent lush national vegetation. In heraldry, green is called vert (French for "green"). Fourteenth century documents describe vert as a symbol of "jolliness and youth, but also of beauty and shame" as well as of death. Vert is used for the flags of Wales and Hungary, and is the basis for the Brazilian flag as well—here as a tribute to Positivist movement which Auguste Comte had connected to the color both as it stood for life and as it seemed to him powerful as the color of Islam. Other countries using green in their flags use it to represent their country's lush vegetation, as in the flag of Jamaica, and hope in the future, as in the flags of Portugal and Nigeria.

Green is a symbol of Ireland, which is often referred to as the "Emerald Isle". The color is particularly identified with the republican and nationalist traditions in modern times. It is used this way on the flag of the Republic of Ireland, in balance with white and the Protestant orange. Green is a strong trend in the Irish holiday St. Patrick's Day.

• The flag of Italy (1797) was modeled after the flag of France. It was originally the flag of the Cisalpine Republic, and the green came from the uniforms of the army of Milan.

• The flag of Brazil (1889). The green color was inherited from the flag of the Empire of Brazil, where it represented the colors of the House of Braganza and the House of Habsburg.

• The flag of Ireland (1919). The green represents the culture and traditions of Gaelic Ireland.

• The flag of India I (1947). The green has been said at different times to represent the Muslim community of India, hope, or prosperity.

• The Flag of Saudi Arabia (1973) has the green color of Islam. The inscription in Arabic says: There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is his Prophet,"

• The flag of South Africa (1994) includes green, yellow and black, the colors of the African National Congress.