The Colour of the Argentinean Flag

Abstract

One of the historical, recurrently discussed questions inArgentina and South America is related to the original colour ofthe Argentinean flag. In this paper, the colouring of one of theoldest preserved Argentinean flags, the flag of 1814 of theTemple of San Francisco, Province of Tucumán, was determined,which was ordered in a timely manner by the trusteeand later first governor of the Province of Tucumán, Bernabé Aráoz. The flag, made of silk, has inscriptions in a yellow colourdue to crocoite, and the presence of lapis lazuli pigment in itsupper and lower parts conveys a blue tonality to the year of itsorigin. Moreover, due to its homogeneous distribution foundon the analysed samples a preservation work by means of a Sncontaining compound might be inferred in this study, whichused spectroscopy and chemistry to solve a singular historicalquestion.