Andorra Flag

Andorra Flag PNG

One of the world’s oldest states, Andorra is a small European country located among the southern peaks of the Pyrenees Mountains, between France and Spain.

Although the official history of the country’s flag started only in the 19th century, symbols on it date back to a 1278 agreement. According to the agreement, the bishop of Urgel (modern-day Spain) and the count of Foix (modern-day France) had joint jurisdiction over Andorra. As a result, the country’s coat of arms, which is now seen on its flag, was built up of symbols representing the two parties, and even the colors were taken from the flags of France and Spain.

History of the Flag

Back in the Middle Ages, the territory of modern-day Andorra had no military protection. In 714, it was occupied by the Arabs of Muslim Spain, who used white and black flags. The territory became a kind of buffer zone between the Frankish Empire and Muslims.

In 988, the land was given to the Diocese of Urgell, and then the bishop of Urgell became co-prince of Andorra. During that time, Urgell had a checkered banner of black and gold.

Over the following eight centuries, a number of flags flew over this territory. They belonged to the countries and people that, in one form or another, had partial or full control of this land: the County of Foix, the Crown of Aragon, the Principality of Catalonia, the Kingdom of Navarre, and the Kingdom of France.

When Urgell was made part of France as a result of the French Revolution, the French flag became the only flag that flew over Andorra.

1806 – 1866

In 1806, Andorra became autonomous. Napoleon I reestablished the Co-Principate in 1809. In 1812 and 1813, the territory was part of the district of Puigcerdà, which belonged to the First French Empire. However, in 1814, an imperial decree reestablished the independence and economy of Andorra.

The flag that was adopted in 1806 was a simple bicolor featuring equally sized red and yellow fields. They were typically vertical, but in some cases, a horizontal version was used.

While the official historical narrative states that the design was introduced by Napoleon in 1806, there is evidence that the flag was in use long before that. Given that yellow and red have been extensively used in the bands of the territories around the Pyrenees (Foix, Roussillon, Toulouse, and Crown of Aragon), it seems only natural that the bicolor could have been adopted prior to 1806.

1866 – 1939

According to official sources, Napoleon III added a blue stripe to the flag because, in its previous, bicolor version, it became similar to the flag that Spain had just adopted. The blue was supposed to become a visual marker of the influence France had on Andorra.

Interestingly, the introduction of the tricolor took place at the same time as the New Reform led by Guillem d’Areny-Plandolit. So, some researchers believe it was he who actually created this flag.

While the flag introduced in 1866 has the status of Andorra’s official civil flag, it’s not used often because it looks too similar to those of other countries.

End of the 19th century – 1930s

Historians still don’t know for sure how and when exactly the vertical flag was replaced by a horizontal one. There’s no information on whether the horizontal flag was the only version in use, either.

Apparently, this variant remained the primary one until the late 1930s. There was also a design featuring an outline of a crown on the yellow field. Some sources say that this flag was connected to Boris I, but there’s no decent factual support for this hypothesis.

1939 – 1993

The flag became vertically-oriented once again. This time, though, a coat of arms appeared on it.

From 1939 to 1993, several versions of the flag were used, none of them standardized. All of them had three vertical bands, blue, yellow, and red, and a coat of arms in the middle. Yet, the exact style of the coat of arms wasn’t exactly the same all the time. Also, in the earlier versions, the three bands were of equal width, while later, the central one became larger, to give more space for the coat of arms.

1993 – present

A uniform flag design was formally introduced. Apparently, one of the reasons for this was the country’s intention to become part of the United Nations.

Meaning of Symbols and Colors

Almost all the parts of the flag are, in one way or another, connected to the history of the country and the times when its territory was controlled by other nations. The yellow and red come from the flag of Catalonia, and they are also the colors of the coat of arms and flag of Foix. The blue comes from France’s tricolor, which also features red, making the connection even more tangible.

Also, the fact that the stripes in the flag have varying widths is a link to Aragon, which historically had such flags.

Use of the flag

The ratio of the Andorran flag is around 2 to 3. It is used both as a national and civil flag. In addition to the national flag, which is used to represent the whole country, there are also separate flags of its parishes. Six of them look the same, except they feature a different coat of arms in the center. The only exception is Andorra la Vella, which uses a completely different design.

Coat of Arms

The coat of arms is a shield broken down into four parts:

• the emblem of the Bishop of Urgell. It features a yellow miter paired with a crosier over the red field in the top left quarter;
• the emblem of the Count of Foix featuring three red stripes separated from each other by yellow stripes (top right quarter);
• a symbol from the coat of arms of Catalonia, four red stripes with yellow stripes in between (bottom left);
• two cows from the coat of arms of the Viscount of Béarn (bottom right).

According to the law of Andorra, the coat of arms can include a motto saying: “Virtus Unita Fortior.” It can also have an aureola, a scroll, or, alternatively, can feature the lord’s emblems (crown, chapeau) at the top.