The flag of the Second Spanish Republic, known in Spanish as la tricolor,was the official flag of Spain between 1931 and 1939 and the flag of the Spanish Republican government in exile until 1977.
The Republican flag was formed by three horizontal bands of the same width, red, yellow, and murrey (mulberry-coloured). The National Flag would have the Spanish Republican coat of arms at the centre (quarterly of Castile, Leon, Aragon and Navarre, enté en point for Granada, ensigned by a mural crown, between the two Pillars of Hercules). This coat of arms originated in 1868 and had been used then by the Provisional Government and later by the First Spanish Republic. The civil ensign or merchant flag would be a simple tricolour without the coat of arms. There was also a military version of the flag with proportion 2:3.
Morado (a generic term for purple or violet) was previously a familiar color throughout Spain as one of the liturgical colors used periodically in priests' vestments and hangings in the many churches of the country. It had also been used in antiquity as the heraldic color of the Kingdom of Castile. The Kingdom of León coat of arms bore a purple lion rampant and the flag reputed to have been used at the Revolt of the Comuneros had a yellow castle on a purple background. This color, however, is prone to alterations or fading with time and use, often resulting in one of the varieties of crimson or maroon.
As it is an unusual colour for a flag, in practice the morado color of the lower band could be violet, purple (purpure) or even lilac, according to the available materials and dyes in each location.[
- flagge
