History of the modern Galician flagThe modern national flag of Galicia was born in the 19th century as a copy of the Naval flag of the City of Corunna.The 19th century was a dark period in the history of Galicia. Many thousands of Galicians were emigrating to the Americas every month to escape from the economical and political crisis that the country was suffering. Corunna was the main Galician port where most of them departed from.Tradition has it that the Galician emigrants thought that the Corunna Naval Flag flying on the emigrant ships was actually the flag of Galicia. Therefore, when they arrived to the new world they started flying the Corunna Naval Flag, believing that it was the flag of Galicia. Years later, the flag crossed the Atlantic back to the homeland, where it was officially adopted as the new National Flag of Galicia."The Galician Flag has only two colours: white and blue. The field is white and a blue band crosses the flag from the top-right corner to the bottom-left". This description was published in 1898 in the newspaper "El Eco de Galicia", in La Habana, Cuba.National symbol of Galicia for a millenniumThe Holy Grail has been the national symbol of the Kingdom of Galicia for almost a millennium. The first time the Holy Grail appeared documented as the arms and banner of the kings of Galicia was in an English armorial dated from the 13th century.The way the Holy Grail is depicted as the national symbol of Galicia has been changing constantly over the past centuries. Originally, the Holy Grail appeared like protected into a glass box, and later the glass box disappeared. Also, the very first Grails appeared plain and alone in the flag with no crosses or stars around it. Later, during the 16th century, a variable number of crosses started to be added around the Grail for decorative purposes.The modern design of the Galician Coat of Arms was established in 1972 by the Royal Academy of Galicia, based on the most common designs of the Arms of Galicia found during the last century, on which the Holy Grail is surrounded by seven crosses. It was also the Royal Academy of Galicia which in the early 1980 asked the Galician Executive (Xunta de Galicia) to incorporate the former flag of the Kingdom of Galicia to the modern national flag. The result of that suggestion was the State Flag. The State Flag features the Galician Coat of Arms over the common civil flag, and is the the official flag that must be displayed in all institutional events of the national and local governments in Galicia.The oldest historical flag in GaliciaIn February 15th 1669 the General Council of the Kingdom of Galicia declared that "(...) from then onwards it was decided to erase the green dragon and the red lion (arms of the Swabian kings who ruled this country at the time) and bring onto the golden field of the arms the consecrated wafer (...)". This document describing the flag of the Swabian kings of Galicia was was brought back to the public eye in 1927 by historian Pérez Constanti in his book "Notas Viejas Galicianas" (Ancient texts from Galicia).Based on that historical description from the Council of the Kingdom of Galicia in 1669 we have made a modern flag featuring a green dragon and a red lion over a gold field. The position on the flag of the dragon and the lion has been determined according the common features of European heraldry, which is two rampant beasts facing and confronting each other.This is a historical flag which can be used for a wide variety of purposes such as decoration of re-enactment and historical festivals, personal use and collection, adding a colourful touch to social meetings and events, etc... This flag can also be used as a historical symbol by many territories which used to be part of the ancient Kingdom of Gallaecia: modern Galicia, northern Portugal, and the neighbouring regions of Bierzo, Asturias, and Leon.CLIMATE:The weather is Atlantic, with mild temperatures throughout the year. Santiago de Compostela has an average 100 days of rain a year. The interior, specifically the more mountainous parts of Ourense and Lugo, receive significant freezes and snowfall during the winter months.In the summer the hot temperatures coupled with its geography of dense forests leads to forest fires. The forest fires of Summer 2006 were particularly bad, burning hundreds of acres. Those responsible tend to be livestock farmers who want to clear the land for livestock grazing or people who wish to develop property on the land. The law was changed by the PSOE government so that burnt land couldn't be reclassified as a brown-field site.Get Your Own! | View SlideshowCUISINE: Galician cuisine often uses fish and shellfish. One of its dishes, empanadas, is a meat or fish pie. It has Celtic influence. Caldo Galego is a hearty soup whose main ingredients are potatoes and a local vegetable named grelo. Centolla is the equivalent of King Crab. It is prepared by being boiled alive, having its main body opened like a shell, and then having its innards mixed vigorously. Centolla is served in water. Another popular dish is octopus, which is boiled whole and then its tentacles are cut into small pieces and it is served in olive oil. Pimenton, a spanish variant of Paprika, is usually dashed on it for extra flavor. It has a regional type of cheese, too: tetilla. It is triangularly shaped and is white, and takes the name from the similarity in shape to a woman's breast.Alfonso Daniel RodrÃguez de Castelao (January 30, 1886, Rianxo—1950) is one of the main symbols of Galiza. As a politician, caricaturist and writer, he is one of the leading figures of Galician culture and identity.
The Galician and Portuguese languages are derived from the early Galician-Portuguese (Galego-Português) language spoken in Galicia and north-of-Douro regions in Portugal, and are still considered by some Galician people to be two dialects of the same Galician-Portuguese language. In the Middle Ages, the Galician and Portuguese languages began to diverge, a development hastened by political separation. There remain many similarities between Portuguese and Galician. Mutual intelligibility is good between Galicians and northern Portuguese, but poorer between Galicians and speakers from southern Portugal.A distinct Galician Literature emerged after the Middle Ages. In the 13th century, important contributions were made to the romance canon in Galician-Portuguese. The most notable was by the troubadour MartÃn Codax and by King Alfonso X of Castile, called El Sabio (The Wise). During this period, Galician-Portuguese was considered the language of love poetry in the Iberian Romance linguistic culture.Like other Celtic regions Galicia's history has been defined by mass emigration. There was significant Galician emigration in the 19th and early 20th centuries to other parts of Spain and to Latin America. In fact, the city with the second greatest number of Galician people is Buenos Aires, Argentina, where immigration from Galicia was so massive that all Spaniards are now called gallegos. During the Franco years many Gallegos emigrated to France, Switzerland and Britain. Galicia's inhabitants are called "Galicians" (in Portuguese & Galician galegos; in Spanish gallegos). . GALIZA-BUENOS AIRES 1931The traditional music of Galicia is probably the least related to the rest of the Iberian Peninsula, although some similarities exist with the neighbouring areas of Asturias and Cantabria or Castile and northern Portugal and, in a similar way to the Balearic islands, it is characterized by an extensive use of bagpipes. Much of what can be said about Galician and Asturian folk music also applies to the closely related Trás-os-Montes region of Portugal.Galician celtic music (Luar Na Lubre - O Son Do Ar, live)The Way of St James has been one of the most important Christian pilgrimages since medieval times and it has existed for over 1000 years. It was considered one of three pilgrimages on which all sins could be forgiven - the others being the Via Francigena to Rome and the pilgrimage to Jerusalem.There is not a single route - the Way can be one of any number of pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela. However a few of the routes are considered main ones. Santiago is such an important pilgrimage destination as it is considered the burial site of the apostle James the Great. Legend states that St. James' remains were carried by boat from Jerusalem to northern Spain where they were buried on the site of what is now the city of Santiago de Compostela. In the middle ages the route was highly travelled. However, the Protestant Reformation and political unrest in 16th century Europe resulted in its decline. In the early 1980s only a few pilgrims arrived in Santiago annually. However, since the late 1980s the way has attracted a growing number of modern-day pilgrims from all around the globe. The route was declared the first European Cultural Route by the Council of Europe in October 1987 and inscribed as one of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites in 1993. GALIZA - ECUADOR (DECEMBER'06)
OUR NATIONAL ANTHEMOs Pinos (The Pines) is the anthem of Galicia.The lyrics are by Eduardo Pondal; the music by Pascual Veiga. It was composed in 1907 and made official in 1977.¿Que din os rumorosos na costa verdecente, ó raio transparente do prácido luar? ¿Que din as altas copas de escuro arume harpado co seu ben compasado monótono fungar?Do teu verdor cinguido e de benignos astros, confÃn dos verdes castros e valeroso chan, non deas a esquecemento da inxuria o rudo encono; esperta do teu soño fogar de Breogán.Os bos e xenerosos a nosa voz entenden, e con arroubo atenden o noso rouco son, mais só os iñorantes, e féridos e duros, imbéciles e escuros non os entenden, non.Os tempos son chegados dos bardos das idades que as vosas vaguidades cumprido fin terán; mais onde quer, xigante a nosa voz pregoa a redenzón da boa nazón de Breogán.Translation:What say the murmurers On the coast greenly glowing By the transparent beam Of the calm moonlight? What say the treetops Of dark, bent pine twigs In their harmonious Monotonous buzzing?"Ringed by thy greenness, And by the benign stars, To the bounds of the green hill forts And valuable plains, Do not let be forgotten The harsh rancour of thy wounding; Awaken from thy slumbers O Hearth of Breoghan."The good and generous Will understand our words And eagerly will hearken To our rough sounds. But only the ignorant, And wounded and hard, The foolish and those in darkness Will not understand us."The times are now upon us Sung by the ancient bards, When all thy wanderings Shall have achieved their end; And everywhere, gigantic, Our voice loudly proclaimeth The redemption of the noble Folk of Breoghan."Galician most famous football teamsGALIZA - JAPAN (BASKETBALL)XUNTA DE GALICIA TV PROMOGALIZA PICS