History
The black eagle was originally the seal of King Sancho VII of Navarre but was later attributed to 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 Castilian, since his kingdom reached from Galicia to the Mediterranean Sea. 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.
Note that the flag is a modern interpretation of the seal. There are no known flags prior to the 18th century when Father Isla describes a crimson flag with the chains and crown of the modern coat-of-arms.
Read more about this topic: Arrano Beltza
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“A great proportion of the inhabitants of the Cape are always thus abroad about their teaming on some ocean highway or other, and the history of one of their ordinary trips would cast the Argonautic expedition into the shade.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Boys forget what their country means by just reading “the land of the free” in history books. Then they get to be men, they forget even more. Liberty’s too precious a thing to be buried in books.”
—Sidney Buchman (1902–1975)
“History takes time.... History makes memory.”
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)