Grade 3: Communities Around the World Unit 3 Brazil Lesson 4 Flags and Seals
Brazilian Flag
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Brazil's flag is a deep green banner with a yellow diamond. The green and yellow colors represent the noble families of Portugal; green for the Emperor Pedro I and yellow for his wife, the Empress Leopoldina. The circle represents a night sky over Rio de Janeiro on the night of November 15, 1889, which is the day when Pedro I was overthrown and the Republic of Brazil was declared. The stars are arranged in the exact pattern of the stars that night. Each of the 27 stars represents a different Brazilian state and the Federal District. The number of stars changes anytime a new state is created. When the Brazilian Republic was founded there were 21. A banner across the sky reads, "ORDEM E PROGRESSO," which means "order and progress" in Portuguese, the national language of Brazil.
This current flag was adopted on May 11, 1992 and it is a slightly different version of the original flag.
According to WorldFlags101.com, “Many people believed that the Brazilian flag's colors represented Brazil's natural richness. The green would represent the forests of the Amazon and the Atlantic Jungle; while the yellow represented the country's gold reserves, as Brazil was once home to the largest gold mines in the world. Between the years 1500 and 1900 more gold was found in Brazil than had previously existed in the whole world.” Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES Grade 3 Integrated Social Studies/English Language Arts Curriculum Page 1 Revised August 2014
Grade 3: Communities Around the World Unit 3 Brazil Lesson 4 Flags and Seals
Coat of Arms
Most documents in Brazil have the National Coat of Arms on them instead of the National Seal. A Coat of Arms was a design for a shield that goes back to the Middle Ages, around 1000 CE (AD).
The design of the National Seal is also represented on the back of the Great Seal of the Arms of the Federative Republic of Brazil. and is used by the President of the Republic together with his/her signature on important documents such as international treaties. The Coat of Arms proves that the President has the right to sign the documents since it is a national symbol adopted by law.
There are several symbols on the Coat of Arms itself. The round blue shield contains five white stars arranged in the form of the Southern Cross, (a constellation seen in Brazil) with its border outlined in gold with 27 white stars, representing the 27 states and the Federal District of Brazil. There is a branch of coffee with its fruit on the left side and another branch of flowering tobacco on the right side.
Adapted from peperonity.com/go/sites/mview/great.brazil/426966 commons.wikimedia.org
Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES Grade 3 Integrated Social Studies/English Language Arts Curriculum Page 2 Revised August 2014
Grade 3: Communities Around the World Unit 3 Brazil Lesson 4 Flags and Seals
Brazilian Seal
The National Seal of Brazil is one of Brazil’s national symbols. You see it on several official documents, such as graduation diplomas, diplomatic papers, and military forms. It is like the center of the flag with the official name of the country, Republica Federativa Do Brasil, (in English that is the Federative*
Republic of Brazil) around the outside.
*A federative republic means a union of states without a king or queen as the ruler.
Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES Grade 3 Integrated Social Studies/English Language Arts Curriculum Page 3 Revised August 2014