A lesser version of the country’s national coat of arms stands in the middle of the Portuguese armillary sphere and shield, centered over the colour boundary at equal distance.

This new national flag for the First Portuguese Republic, was selected by a special commission whose members included Columbano Bordalo Pinheiro, João Chagas and Abel Botelho.

The sphere and shield in the middle of the current flag are an integral part of the design, which has historically been centred on the royal arms, usually over fields of blue and white.

Since the country's foundation, the standard developed from the blue cross-on-white armorial square banner of King Afonso I, through progressively more complex designs, which did incorporate green and red, to the liberal monarchy's arms over a blue-and-white rectangle.

[4] In heraldic terminology, the shield's blazon is described as Argent, five escutcheons in cross azure each charged with five plates in saltire, on a bordure gules seven towers triple-turreted Or, three in chief.a The colour tones of the flag are not precisely specified in any legal document.

Recommendations are listed below:[4] The Republican revolution of 5 October 1910, brought a need to replace the symbols of the overthrown monarchy, represented in the first instance by the old national flag and anthem.

Blue also carried a strong religious meaning as it was the colour of Our Lady of the Conception (Portuguese: Nossa Senhora da Conceição), who was crowned Queen and Patroness of Portugal by King John IV, so its removal or replacement from the future flag was justified by Republicans as one of the many measures needed to secularize the state.

It included Columbano Bordalo Pinheiro (painter), João Chagas (journalist), Abel Botelho (writer) and two military leaders of 1910: Ladislau Pereira and Afonso Palla.

[6] The Manueline armillary sphere, which had been present on the national flag under the reign of John VI, was revived because it consecrated the "Portuguese epic maritime history ... the ultimate challenge, essential to our collective life."

[6] The new flag was produced in large numbers at the Cordoaria Nacional ("National Rope House") and was officially presented nationwide on 1 December 1910, on occasion of the 270 years of the Restoration of Independence.

This festive presentation did not mask, however, the turmoil caused by a design chosen single-handedly without prior popular consultation, and that represented more of a political regime than a whole nation.

[7] The Portuguese flag displays three important symbols: the field colours, and the armillary sphere and national shield, which make up the coat of arms.

Despite the fact that the colours of red and green had never constituted a major part of the national flag until 1910, they were present in several historical banners during important periods.

Legend has it that Afonso killed the five Moorish kings of the Seville, Badajoz, Elvas, Évora and Beja taifas, before decimating the enemy troops.

[10] However, evidence pointing out that the number of bezants on each shield was greater than five during long periods following Afonso I's reign,[9] as well as the fact that only in the 15th century was this legend registered on a chronicle by Fernão Lopes (1419),[11] support this explanation as one of pure myth and highly charged with patriotic feeling in the sense that Portugal was created by divine intervention and was destined for great things.

It was introduced by the Knights Templar, whose knowledge was essential to the Portuguese Discoveries—Henry, the Navigator, the person mainly responsible for the development of Age of Discovery was actually the Grand Master of the Order of Christ.

[citation needed] Adding to the sphere's significance was its common use on every Manueline-influenced architectural work, where it is one of the major stylistic elements, as seen on the Jerónimos Monastery and Belém Tower.

[14][verification needed] During the time of Afonso I, it was typical not to repair battle damage inflicted on the shield, so changes such as the breaking off of pieces, colour shifting or stains were very common.

When Sancho I succeeded his father Afonso I, in 1185, he inherited a very worn off shield: the blue-stained leather that made the cross had been lost except where the bezants (nails) held it in place.

To his personal banner, John I added his Order's fleur-de-lys cross, displayed as green flowery points on the red bordure; this inclusion reduced the number of castles to twelve (three around each corner).

Specifically, the flag was now a white rectangle centrally charged with the coat of arms (bearing eleven castles) on an ogival or heater-shaped shield and surmounted by an open royal crown.

[15] In 1521, John III made minor changes to the flag by adopting a coat of arms (bearing only seven castles) with a round shaped shield.

Heavily influenced by the luxurious and ostentatious court of the French king Louis XIV, and by France's political and cultural impact in Europe, John V wanted to transpose such style into the country's coat of arms.

To reflect the change of the status of the Portuguese Monarchy, the Prince Regent John (future King João VI, at that time still reigning in name of his mother, Queen Mary I) established a new Royal coat of arms, where the Portuguese shield (representing Portugal and the Algarves) charged a blue-filled yellow armillary sphere (representing Brazil) surmounted by the same beret-bearing five-arched crown.

The background was equally divided along its length into blue (hoist) and white (fly); the armillary sphere (associated with Brazil) was removed and the coat of arms was centred over the colour boundary; and the shield reverted to the "French type" shape of João V. This new flag configuration was decreed solely for terrestrial use, but a variation of it was used as the national ensign.

[14] With the defeat and exile of Miguel in 1834, Queen Maria II returned to the throne and the standard of the victorious side was hoisted in Lisbon as the new national flag.

Centred over the colour boundary lie the armillary sphere and Portuguese shield, surrounded by two yellow laurel branches intersecting at their stems.

These are bound by a white stripe bearing the verse by Luís de Camões "Esta é a ditosa pátria minha amada" (English: "This is my beloved blissful homeland") as the motto.

The flag of the Prime-Minister is a white rectangle (ratio 2:3) with a dark green saltire, holding the lesser coat of arms on its centre, and a red bordure charged with a pattern of yellow laurel leaves.

[citation needed] The flag of the Assembly of the Republic (Assembleia da República), the national parliament, is also a white rectangle (ratio 2:3) with the lesser coat of arms in the centre and a dark green border.