Did the first two Argentine flags of Macha and Ayohuma wave together?

Abstract

Historical sources claim that the Argentine ensigns commonly referred to as Macha and Ayohuma flags have the same origin. The difference in their designs is remarkable, with the former being white, blue, and white in horizontal bands, while the latter has the coloured stripes at its ends. According to a historical account, these two flags were used by the patriot and creator of the Argentine flag, one of the parents of the homeland, Manuel Belgrano, when he first raised them on the banks of the Paran´ a River on February 27, 1812. Both flags werefound by Father Martín Castro in 1883 behind a painting of Santa Cecilia in the church of Titiri near the town of Macha in Bolivia at an altitude of 4350 m above sea level. The composition of the Ayohuma flag was analysed inthis paper, and the results were compared with those obtained and already published for the study conducted on the flag of Macha. It was determined by ATR-FTIR spectroscopy that the Ayohuma flag is made of silk, with thediameter of the individual silk filament of 12.5 μm, the dye used to colour the silk is indigotin, according to its resonance Raman spectrum, and methylene blue was detected by Surface-Enhanced Resonance Raman Spectroscopy, presumably utilized for the restoration of the coloured part of the flag.