The flag of Andorra has been used f

The flag of Andorra has been used from circa 1870 as a civil flag. The proportions are 2:3. The state flag (used on government buildings, etc.) has, in addition, the arms of Andorra on the yellow stripe.

Željko Heimer, 07 Nov 1995

Smith 1975 and Smith 1980 claim that the flag without the arms is the civil flag on land. Just the state flag has arms. So, it seems that general public should use the simple flag. However, as far as I know, there is no legislation in Andorra regarding the flag, so probably both versions are used interchangeably. Maybe influenced by similar tendency in neighbouring Spain, the version with the arms is now used more often – and also because the Chad/Romania problem. It may be that this is more showed outside of Andorra itself, resulting from the wish of many flag-hoisters (?) to have a different flag for each country.

Željko Heimer, 05 Mar 1997

As far as I can find out, there was no legislation defining the Andorran flag before (Title One, Chapter One, Article 5 of) the Constitution dated 4 May 1993, with further regulations dated 20 June 1996 (published 10 July) and those approved on 5 May 1999 upon which Željko obviously based his construction sheet. And none of these sources mention the existence of a plain civil flag.

Whilst I have little doubt that such flags have been in use over the last 150 years, the plain tricolour has (again as far as I can find out) no current legal existence (if it ever had) and therefore no regulated proportions (both internal and external) differing from those of the national flag (possibly because modern manufacturing techniques make the flag with arms very much less expensive than formerly?)

Christopher Southworth, 20 Jan 2010

There is a mention of a "plain flag" in both the Law of 10 June 1996 and the regulations of 5 May 1999.

Law of 10 June 1996 (Text in English at http://www.ompa.ad/angles/signes/Llei.PDF):

Annex 2. Traditional flag of Andorra

"(...) The coat of arms of the Principality of Andorra is placed in the centre of the flag, on the yellow stripe; however, it may be omitted, particularly when the flag is reproduced in certain small-scale or specific formats, such as tapes, where it may be represented solely by three adjacent stripes in blue, yellow and red.

The regulations [PDF] of 5 May 1999 also cite this "plain flag" (page 7):

En casos de cintes o de reduccions, s'utilitza la bandera sense l'escut, tal com es mostra a la fitxa 1.2.4 (aplicacions).

In cases of tapes or small-scale reproductions, will be used the flag without coat of arms, as shown on card 1.2.4 (applications).

This "card", or annex 1.2.4 is absent in the PDF file, so we would need the entire text to see what is represented there.

Obviously none of these states that this "plain flag" is the "civil flag," or at least it isn't called "civil flag."

Antonio Gutierrez, 20 Jan 2010

We now know that a plain tricolour was formally authorized in 1996 and that (if made according to the Law) it should follow the pattern of that with the coat of arms - in proportions of 7:10 with unequal stripes (although how many flags are actually made that way is a matter of conjecture).

Christopher Southworth, 20 Jan 2010

I'm not sure that we're really talking about a flag in 7:10, here; I fear the "tapes" may merely refer to ribbons.

Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 21 Jan 2010

I don't quite know what "tapes" the law is referring to either, but it is quite specific with regard to the flag - it says that the arms "...may be omitted, particularly when the flag is reproduced in certain small scale or specific formats etc." This does not create a special flag, but simply says that the flag as regulated may be (under certain circumstances) displayed without arms, and the flag is regulated in a ratio of 7:10 with the stripes in proportions of 8-9-8.

Whether this flags or reproductions of it will ever actually be prepared using the official figures is open to debate, but (at least as far as I can understand it) the fact remains that they should be.