Wandering aimlessly about Spain, I have seen a couple of different Spanish flags that have left me perplexed.
All three are red on the top and bottom with a broad yellow horizontal stripe in the centre. The one that I see most frequently and the one I’m most familiar with (and that appears on government buildings etc.) is the one with the Kingdom’s coat of arms on the gold stripe, close to the hoist.
I’ve also seen two other versions, though: one with nothing on the gold stripe, and another with a large blue crown in the centre. Are these actual versions, and if so, how are they used compared to the normal version? Or has someone been making up his or her own flag?
My main source for flag questions is the excellent Flags of the World. According to the website, the Spanish flag without the coat of arms is allowed for civil use, for reasons of cost. State entities must have the coat of arms, however [cite]. The flag with the blue crown is apparently used for recreational boating [cite].
Here is the Flags of the World (FOTW) base page on Spain.
Here is the variants page, that seems to indicate that the flag missing the coat of arms is used in civil, non-governmental situations, bu that non-governmental entities or persons are not prohibited from flying the flag with the arms.
If this is it, the flag with a crown is the Yachts Ensign (two variants are at thebottom of the page).
Very interesting, thanks. Since the flag with the crown was on a restaurant, not a yacht, I suppose they were flying it in error.
Did they have a nautical motif? Do you know whether the owner or chef was a rabid yachtsman?
It was in Astorga, a couple hundred kilometres and at least one mountain range away from the sea.
