Flag
The flag of the state of Minas Gerais is the oldest one adopted in Brazil that was devised by Brazilians. It was remembered by the Republican Party, which opposed the Brazilian Imperial Government, and adopted unofficially as the flag of the state. It has been the official state flag since 1946.
The flag's Latin inscription, "Libertas quæ sera tamen", is the motto of the "Inconfidencia Mineira," which fought for Brazilian independence from Portugal. It means "Freedom albeit late". It is taken from Virgil's Eclogues, Eclogue 1. The triangle is said to represent God as a Trinity and the three ideals of the French Revolution: Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité, but as Masons influenced independence movements throughout America, the geometric figure on the flag is a clear homage to them. The colors were chosen for their revolutionary meaning: white represents the desire to forming a peaceful nation, discarding all colonial institutions, and red symbolises the flame of liberty and/or the blood of Inconfidencia martyrs, such as Tiradentes, or "The Dentist" revolutionary.
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Famous quotes containing the word flag:
“Up rose old Barbara Frietchie then,
Bowed with her fourscore years and ten;
Bravest of all in Frederick town,
She took up the flag the men hauled down;”
—John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892)
“—Here, the flag snaps in the glare and silence
Of the unbroken ice. I stand here,
The dogs bark, my beard is black, and I stare
At the North Pole. . .
And now what? Why, go back.
Turn as I please, my step is to the south.”
—Randall Jarrell (1914–1965)
“Our flag is red, white and blue, but our nation is a rainbow—red, yellow, brown, black and white—and we’re all precious in God’s sight.”
—Jesse Jackson (b. 1941)