There are many myths concerning the colors on the Spanish flag. Separate the facts from the fantasies and get to know how the Spanish flag got its colors over a period of time.
The vibrant colors on the Spanish flag truly reflect its rich and diverse culture. The colors however did not originate on the basis of the rich culture of Spain rather there are a number of controversies concerning the origin of the colors. What we see today of the Spanish flag is a triband with three horizontal stripes of red and yellow. The two sides bordering the flag are red whereas the middle band is yellow in color. The yellow band is twice the size of the red ones and stands to be the widest of the three bands. The coat of arms on the state flag and the military flag is composed within the yellow band of the flag.
The evolution of the colors
One common story that has long been floating about the colors of the Spanish flag is that it takes the color scheme from the Crown of Aragon. There is another story that credits the colors to the Naples flag adopted by Carlos III. The first republic of Spain had made some changes to the age old traditions concerning the flag. They attempted to rid the flag of the royal symbols by suppressing them to an extent of making them unnoticeable, this included the crown and the lily. The flag was to have a new color scheme which was red, white and blue. The modification was not finalized and the flag remained the same with other than the removal of the crown from the top of the shield.
After the overthrow of the monarchy the colors on the Spanish flag were again modified. The new republic of Spain was established in the year 1931 and altered the flag from a bicolor red and yellow to a tricolor flag with the addition of the color indigo. The aim behind the addition of the color indigo was to represent the Castile and Leon. The official flag of Spain at that featured three bands of different colors but the same width. The shield was adopted and pasted on the middle band in the year 1868.
One thing to note is that the bicolor flag that existed before the tricolor one was not at all the symbol of the monarchy. The monarchy had its own royal flag and this one was supposed to be a national flag. The Franco years that followed saw the design of the flag shifting back to a bicolor one that was pretty much like the one used by the Catholic Monarchs. The only new addition was that of an eagle with new quarters on the shield.
The post Franco interim period saw the flag undergoing a number of changes. The details of the coat of arms were modified to a great extent with the eagle spreading out it wings and the Pillars of Hercules being placed within the wings. The flag that we see today was finally formalized when the House of Bourbon was restored and the 1978 constitution was published. It was here that it clearly said that from now on the flag of Spain was to have three horizontal stripes, two red and one yellow, the yellow being double the width of the red.
