The Portuguese territories in the Americas, corresponding roughly to what is now Brazil, never had their own flag, since the Portuguese imposed hoisting the flag of their kingdom in all territories of the crown. The first Brazilian vexillological symbols were private maritime flags used by Portuguese merchant ships that sailed to Brazil. In time, the armillary sphere became the unofficial ensign of Brazil. In 1815, Brazil was elevated to the rank of kingdom, and became part of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves, so adopted its flag. After the Declaration of Independence, and with the coronation of Pedro I as Emperor of Brazil, the Royal Standard was modified to become the flag of the Empire of Brazil. In 1889, upon the proclamation of the republic, was adopted the flag which remained unchanged until 1992.
The national flag of Brazil is a blue disc depicting a starry sky spanned by a curved band inscribed with the national motto, within a yellow rhombus, on a green field. The concept was the work of Raimundo Teixeira Mendes, with the collaboration of Miguel Lemos, Manuel Pereira Reis and Décio Villares. The green field and the yellow rhombus were preserved from the previous imperial flag, and represents the reigning House of Braganza and the house of the consort of the first emperor, Habsburg. The blue circle with 27 white five-pointed stars replaced the arms of the Empire of Brazil.
The stars, whose position in the flag reflect the sky over Rio de Janeiro on November 15, 1889, represent the union's federated units - each star representing a specific State, plus one for the Federal District. Six of them was added on May 12, 1992, representing the newly created states, and a slight change in the stars' positions was made to match the astronomical coordinates correctly. The motto "Ordem e Progresso" (Order and Progress) is inspired by Auguste Comte's motto of positivism: "L’amour pour principe et l’ordre pour base; le progrès pour but" (Love as a principle and order as the basis; progress as the goal). In the postcard, the green field was replaced with a photo showing the crowns of trees of the Atlantic Forest (Mata Atlântica).
About the stamps
The first three stamps are part of a definitive series representing Profissões (Professions), about which I wrote here. The last one belongs to Cidades Históricas (Historical Cities) series, about which I wrote here.
References
Flag of Brazil - Wikipedia
sender: Lorenna Veima (direct swap)
sent from Goiânia (Goiás / Brazil), on 28.01.2014
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