The colour of the Argentinean flag

ROSANA M. ROMANO; RODRIGO STEPHANI; LUIZ F. CAPPA DE OLIVEIRA; CARLOS O. DELLA VÉDOVA

Chemistry Select

Wiley-VCH

Año: 2017 vol. 2 p. 2235 - 2240

One of the historical, recurrently discussed questions inArgentina and South America is related to the original colour ofthe Argentinean flag. In this paper, the colouring of one of theoldest preserved Argentinean flags, the flag of 1814 of theTemple of San Francisco, Province of Tucuma´n, was determined,which was ordered in a timely manner by the trusteeand later first governor of the Province of Tucuma´n, Bernabe´Ara´oz. The flag, made of silk, has inscriptions in a yellow colourdue to crocoite, and the presence of lapis lazuli pigment in itsupper and lower parts conveys a blue tonality to the year of itsorigin. Moreover, due to its homogeneous distribution foundon the analysed samples a preservation work by means of a Sncontaining compound might be inferred in this study, whichused spectroscopy and chemistry to solve a singular historicalquestion.