User:BaduFerreira/Flag of Sergipe

The flag of Sergipe is the official flag of the Brazilian state of Sergipe. The original state flag adapted from a naval flag used to identify a specific fleet in the 19th century and was officially adopted by Law No. 795 on 19 October 1920. It was later modified by Law No. 412 on 30 October 1951 to resemble the national flag of the United States of America. This change proved unpopular and the original flag was reinstated by Law 458 on 3 December 1952.

Initial design
The state flag is derived from a flag designed by José Rodrigues Bastos Coelho, a businessman from Sergipe, on 23 July 1897 to identify his vessels at sea. This naval flag used the same colors as the national flag of Brazil and had four stars in its canton, which represented the mouths of the Real, Vaza-Barris, Cotinguiba, and São Francisco rivers. Its widespread usage amongst Bastos Coelho's fleet led to the flag being known as the "flag of Sergipe" at the ports frequented by his boats. A modified version of this flag was officially adopted as the state flag on 19 October 1920 by Law No. 795 during the governorship of Pereira Lobo as one of the many measures to celebrate Sergipe's centennial as a state. This flag added a larger central star to the canton to represent the mouth of the Japaratuba river.

Flag updates
The flag was modified to resemble the national flag of the United States of America but with 42 stars and the colors of the Brazilian flag on 30 October 1951 by Law No. 412 brought fourth by PSD deputy Antônio Franco Filho. The stars represented the 42 municipalities in Sergipe at the time. According to Franco Filho, this change was made so that the state could "pay tribute to and take as an example an economically, culturally and socially developed and evolved nation". Despite being approved by 10 of the then 19 deputies of the Legislative Assembly of Sergipe, this change received widespread criticism from Sergipe politicians and intellectuals. The previous flag was reinstated on 3 December 1952 by Law No. 458 by Arnaldo Rollemberg Garcez. Furthermore, this law officially designated which stars were represented by which river mouths and changed the reference to the Cotinguiba river to the Sergipe river. At the time when the original flag was officially adopted, the Cotinguiba river was thought to be Sergipe river.

Symbolism
The 1989 State Constituion of Sergipe included an article by state deputy Marcelo Déda Chagas which soldified the symbolism of the elements of the state flag. The colors represent Sergipe's integration in Brazil. The large central star represents the São Francisco river and the four surrounding stars repesent the Japaratuba, Sergipe, Vaza-Barris, and Real rivers.

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