It is the only article of the Constitution on national symbols, covering the flag, the anthem and the official language in three short paragraphs.
- Article 11 of the Constitution is titled National symbols and official language.
- Paragraph 1 says the National Flag is the symbol of the sovereignty of the Republic and of the independence, unity and integrity of Portugal.
- Paragraph 2 says only that the National Anthem is A Portuguesa.
- Paragraph 3 says the official language is Portuguese, and the article's title treats the language as separate from the symbols.
- The article does not describe the flag's design, does not reproduce the anthem's words and never mentions the armillary sphere or the castles.
Source: Constituição da República Portuguesa, artigo 11.º
The Constitution does not describe the flag: it ties it to the Republic established on 5 October 1910.
- Paragraph 1 of Article 11 says the flag is the one adopted by the Republic established by the Revolution of 5 October 1910.
- By the Constitution, Portugal's current flag dates from 1910-1911.
- The previous flag, the monarchy's, was blue and white.
Source: Constituição da República Portuguesa, artigo 11.º
The design of the flag and of the national arms comes from two decrees of June 1911, not from the Constitution.
- The flag's design comes from the decree of the Constituent National Assembly of 19 June 1911, published in the Diário do Governo no. 141 of 20 June 1911.
- That decree describes the flag as split vertically into dark green and scarlet, green on the hoist side, with the shield of the National Arms over the join of the colours.
- The shield is edged in white and rests on the Manueline armillary sphere, yellow and outlined in black.
- Proportions, measurements and design detail were left to decree no. 150 of 30 June 1911.
- Neither 1911 decree gives any meaning to the flag's colours, and the Constitution does not either.
Source: Decreto de 19 de junho de 1911 (Diário do Governo n.º 141, de 20 de junho de 1911); Decreto n.º 150, de 30 de junho de 1911
A Portuguesa has three distinct moments: its composition, its adoption as the anthem in 1911, and the official version fixed in 1957.
- A Portuguesa has music by Alfredo Keil and words by Henrique Lopes de Mendonça.
- The song was written in reaction to the British Ultimatum and was the march of the 31 January insurgents before it was the national anthem.
- It became the national anthem in 1911, under the same decree of 19 June that fixed the flag's design.
- The official version was only approved in 1957, by a resolution of the Council of Ministers published in the Diário do Governo, series I, no. 199, of 4 September 1957.
- Officially, only the first stanza and the refrain are sung.
Source: Decreto de 19 de junho de 1911; Resolução do Conselho de Ministros, Diário do Governo, 1.ª série, n.º 199, de 4 de setembro de 1957
Article 332 of the Penal Code punishes public insult of the national symbols and also protects the symbols of the autonomous regions.
- Article 332 punishes anyone who publicly insults the Republic, the national flag or anthem, the arms or emblems of sovereignty, or fails to show them due respect.
- The penalty is up to 2 years in prison or a fine of up to 240 days.
- The article names the arms and the emblems of sovereignty alongside the flag and the anthem, symbols the Constitution never listed.
- Paragraph 2 extends the protection to the flags, anthems and emblems of the autonomous regions, with a lower penalty: up to 1 year in prison or a fine of up to 120 days.
Source: Código Penal, artigo 332.º
The rules for using the National Flag are in a 1987 decree-law, which says on which days it is flown and at what hours.
- The rules for using the National Flag are in Decreto-Lei n.º 150/87 of 30 March, which brought together scattered earlier legislation.
- Article 3(1) says the flag is flown on Sundays and public holidays and on days of official ceremonies or other solemn public acts or sessions.
- Paragraph 2 allows the Government and the governing bodies of the autonomous regions to order the flag flown.
- The same paragraph also allows it to the executive bodies of local authorities and to the heads of private institutions.
- The flag stays up between 9 a.m. and sunset and, if it remains up at night, it should be lit whenever possible.
Source: Decreto-Lei n.º 150/87, de 30 de março, artigo 3.º