Modern Arrano beltza

Other design of the Arrano Beltza

Seal of the king of Navarre

Batasuna mural painting in Guipuscoa (2003), featuring the arrano beltza along with lauburu, ikurriña, and a version of Zazpiak Bat

Three riders with the flags of Navarre, Ikurrina and Arrano Beltza in an homage to ETA members. Batasuna ("Unity" in Basque language) is a Basque nationalist political organization based mainly in Spain, declared illegal but with Guipúzcoa ( Spanish) or Gipuzkoa ( Basque and official is a province of the Basque Country, in Spain. The lauburu or Basque cross has four comma -shaped heads similar to the Japanese Tomoe. The Ikurriña flag is a Basque symbol and the official flag of the Basque Country Autonomous Community of Spain Zazpiak Bat, coined by the Basque Explorer Antoine-Thomson d'Abbadie in the nineteenth century from the Basque words zazpiak

The arrano beltza ("black eagle" in Basque) is an ancient Basque and Navarre symbol which displays a black eagle upon a yellow background and is mostly, though not exclusively, used by Basque nationalists as a symbol of Euskal Herria, the Basque Country. Basque ( native name: euskara) is the Language spoken by the Basque people who inhabit the Pyrenees in North-Central Spain The Basques (Euskaldunak are a people who inhabit a region spanning over parts of north-central Spain and southwestern France. Eagles are large birds of prey which are members of the Bird order Falconiformes and family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera Basque nationalism is a movement with roots in the Carlism and the loss by the laws of 1839 and 1876 of the Ancien Régime relationship between the Basque provinces

History

The black eagle was originally the seal of King Sancho III of Navarre who, when incorporating Aragon and Castile, had under his crown all the territories of Basque culture and language, including those traditionally Castillian, for his kingdom reached from Galicia to the Mediterranean Sea. Sancho III Garcés (late 10th century &ndash 18 October 1035) called the Great ( Spanish: el Mayor or el Grande) was Aragon ( Spanish: "Aragón") is an autonomous community of Spain. Kingdom of Castile was one of the medieval kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula. Galicia (occasionally Galiza) is an autonomous community in northwest Spain. From a Basque nationalist interpretation, the rule of Sancho III constitutes a historical precedent for the aspirations of the unification of the Basque-speaking territories under one independent State. From a Spanish perspective, it is one of the first attempts at forming a unified Spain. Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.

Note that the flag is a modern interpretation of the seal. There are not known flags prior to the 18th century^[1] when Father Isla describes a crimson flag with the chains and crown of the modern coat-of-arms.

Use by Basque nationalists

This symbol is used mostly by the so called Ezker Abertzalea (Nationalist Left), who consider it "the oldest symbol of the territory of Euskal Herria". Abertzale in the Basque language means roughly " patriot " and is used to mean " Basque nationalist " Such use fits in with the search for symbols and terms which go beyond the iconography created by Sabino Arana. Sabino Arana Goiri, self-styled as Arana ta Goiri'taŕ Sabin ( January 26, 1865 &ndash November 25, 1903) was a Basque Thus, besides the ikurriña (the official flag in the Basque Autonomous Community), of Aranist origin, one can find the yellow flag with the black eagle and the flag of Navarre being used more often, as they are considered more genuine symbols of Euskal Herria. The Ikurriña flag is a Basque symbol and the official flag of the Basque Country Autonomous Community of Spain The Basque Country ( Basque Euskadi, Spanish País Vasco) is an autonomous community in northern Spain. For the same reason, these leftist abertzaleak often use the traditional term Euskal Herria instead of the neologism Euskadi, created by Sabino Arana in the XIX century. Abertzale in the Basque language means roughly " patriot " and is used to mean " Basque nationalist " The Basque Country ( Basque Euskadi, Spanish País Vasco) is an autonomous community in northern Spain. (Euskadi, on the other hand, is starting to be more usually identified with the Basque Autonomous Community. )

Occasional use by Spanish nationalists

Some Spanish nationalist organisations of neo-fascist character (specifically the AUN), have in few occasions used the arrano beltza as well, argumenting it, in an opposite point of view, a symbol of Spanish unity. The ASEAN University Network (AUN was founded in November 1995 by ASEAN member countries including 13 universities For this idea, they allege that Sancho III ruled most of Christian Spain, from León to Barcelona, and he appeared in many documents named as Rex Hispanorum Regum, that is, "King of the Kings of the Hispanians" (Spaniards), which, from their point of view, demonstrates that the Kingdom of Navarre perceived Spain as a territorial and historical unit, despite its political division (although it is debatable whether Hispania was then a merely geographical term, like modern day substitute Iberia). Hispania was the name given by the Romans to the whole of the Iberian Peninsula (modern Portugal, Spain, Andorra, Gibraltar The Kingdom of Navarre (Reino de Navarra Nafarroako Erresuma Royaume de Navarre originally the Kingdom of Pamplona, was a European kingdom which occupied lands on either The Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe, and includes modern day Spain, Portugal, Andorra Sancho III also turned Castille into a kingdom when leaving it to his son Fernando, and the eagle, used by its kings and queens ever since until Isabel the Catholic would come from the arrano beltza.

See also

Arrano beltza is also a song by Basque songwriter Mikel Laboa (later covered by rock band Negu Gorriak), including the verses:

It alludes to a legend on the origin of the current coat of arms and flag of Navarre.

References

• Much of the content of this article comes from the equivalent Spanish-language wikipedia article.

1. ^ Bernardo Estornés Lasa's Spanish article on Navarra in the Auñamendi Entziklopedia (click on "NAVARRA - NAFARROA (NOMBRE Y EMBLEMAS)")

External links

• Kingdom of Navarre: related seals, arms and flags