The Canary Islands are an archipelago of seven islands located off the northwest coast of Morocco and Western Sahara. These territories belong to Spain and have the status of an autonomous community.
This is what the modern flag of the Canary Islands looks like:
History of the flag
The name comes from the Latin Canariae Insulae (“Dog Islands”), which is due to the large number of wild dogs found by the discoverers on the archipelago.
Europeans first visited the archipelago in the 14th century, and by the end of the 15th century the Spanish had finally conquered the territory, although, before that, the French and the Portuguese had their sights on it. Other countries fought over the Canary Islands later, but Spain has managed to keep control over them.
In 1927, the Nationalist Party of the Canary Islands (Partido Nacionalista canario) officially adopted its symbol – a blue cloth with seven white stars on it, the order of which was similar to the number of islands in the ocean.
In 1961, the leaders of the Canarias Libre movement invented a new symbol – a blue-white-yellow flag. But in 1964 the Movement for the Independence of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands (MPAIAC) replaced the blue color by a light blue one with stars in a circle.
The symbol of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands was officially approved in August 1982 in the form of white, blue and yellow vertical stripes, which in April 1989 was slightly modified – added to the current symbolism coat of arms of the Canary Islands.
Description
The national flag of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands is a tricolor white-blue-yellow cloth of uniform vertical stripes. The central part depicts the coat of arms of the Canary Islands, a shield with seven islands in white, and above the shield a crown of Spain, indicating belonging to the Kingdom of Spain. Above the crown is the inscription Oceano, indicating geographic location: the Atlantic Ocean. The shield is supported by brown dogs on the left and right.
The ratio of width to length of the flag is 2 to 3. The width of each stripe is equal to one third of the flag length.
Flag colors
There are seven colors on the symbol of the Canary Islands. From left (from the stem) to right: white, blue, yellow vertical stripes. The other four colors, brown, black, red, gray, including white, are associated with the coat of arms.
Meaning of colors and flag symbol
There is no official explanation for the colors of the flag of the Canary Islands. Simply dark blue and snow-white have been the defining colors of Tenerife for centuries. The blue was identified with the sea, and the white with the snow-capped peaks of Mount Teide in winter.
A common national symbol is used on all the islands, but each also has its own flag.
General information about the Canary Islands
| Official language | Spanish |
| Capital | Santa Cruz de Tenerife and
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria |
| Territory | 7447 km2 |
| Population | 2,127,685 people |
| Currency | Euro |
| Phone Code | +3428 |
