Arrano beltza
|
Other design of the Arrano Beltza |
|
Seal of the king of Navarre |
The
arrano beltza ("
black eagle" in
Basque) is an ancient
Basque and
Navarre symbol which displays a black
eagle upon a yellow background and is mostly, though not exclusively, used by
Basque nationalists as a symbol of Euskal Herria, the
Basque Country.
The black eagle was originally the seal of King
Sancho III of Navarre who, when incorporating
Aragon and
Castille, had under his crown all the territories of Basque culture and language, including those traditionally Castillian, for 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.
This symbol is used mostly by the so called
Ezker Abertzalea (Nationalist Left), who consider it "the oldest symbol of the territory of Euskal Herria". Such use fits in with the search for symbols and terms which go beyond the iconography created by
Sabino Arana. Thus, besides the
ikurriña (the official flag in the
Basque Autonomous Community), of Aranist origin, one can find the yellow flag with the black eagle being used more often, as they are considered more genuine symbols of Euskal Herria. For the same reason, these leftist
abertzaleak often use the traditional term
Euskal Herria instead of the neologism
Euskadi, created by Sabino Arana in the XIX century. (
Euskadi, on the other hand, is starting to be more usually identified with the Basque Autonomous Community.)
Some basque pro-Spanish organisations in the Basque Country and their like in Navarre use the
arrano beltza as well, considering it, in an opposite point of view, a symbol of Spanish unity. For this idea, they allege that Sancho III appears in many documents named as
Rex Hispanorum Regum, that is, "King of the Kings of the
Hispanians" (or "Spaniards"), which, from their point of view, demonstrates that the
Kingdom of Navarre perceived Spain as a territorial and historical unit, despite its political division. Sancho III also turned Castille into a kingdom when leaving it to his son Fernando, and the eagle, used by its kings and queens ever since until
Isabel the Catholic would come from the
arrano beltza.
Arrano beltza is also a song by Basque songwriter
Mikel Laboa, (later covered by rock band
Negu Gorriak) including the verses:
Arrano beltzarekin joan ziren
joan joan
Jaengo Navas de Tolosara
Nafarrak
eta kate kateekin itzuli etxera.
>They went with the black eagle
went, went
to Navas de Tolosa in Jaén
the Navarrese
and returned with the chains, chains. |
It alludes a legend on the origin of the current coat of arms and
flag of Navarre-
*Much of the content of this article comes from
the equivalent Spanish-language wikipedia article.
*
Kingdom of Navarre: related seals, arms and flags
