Symbols of Francoism

The Second Spanish Republic was established in April 1931 after King Alfonso XIII had forced the dictator General Miguel Primo de Rivera to resign, followed by nationwide municipal elections.

[3] In 1933, the aristocrat José Antonio Primo de Rivera, son of the former dictator, founded the far-right Falange movement, similar to the Italian Fascists.

[12] In the 1960s Spain experienced a boom from a growing tourism industry and from relaxation of trade barriers, modernizing economically and then culturally, which placed pressure on the state's highly conservative values.

[17] At a meeting in the Teatro Calderón in Valladolid in March 1934, the hall was filled with banners and insignia and many attendees wore the blue shirts, visually displaying what the 3rd Marquess of Estella ('José Antonio') called the "spirit of service and of sacrifice, the ascetic and military concept of life.

When Carmen Primo de Rivera, sister of José Antonio, married in December 1938, she had the yoke and arrows embroidered on her wedding dress.

[23] A portrait of Franco by Ignacio Zuloaga from 1940 shows him wearing the blue shirt, military boots and jodhpurs, and the red beret of the requetés.

Without affecting the basic design, the shield was divided into four with the coats of arms of Castille, León, Aragon and Navarre, plus the «enté en point» of Granada.

The inclusion of other historical heraldic elements gave a clear symbolic significance: "The set of arrows and the yoke of the Catholic Monarchs, whose adoption as a badge is one of the great successes of our Falange, must appear on the official arms to indicate what should be the tone of the New State.

[31] The heraldry used by Franco was similar to that of the Catholic Monarchs, with the arms of Navarre replacing those of Aragon-Sicily, and with the addition of the Pillars of Hercules and the motto One, Great and Free.

[32] In Spanish heraldic tradition, the yoke, the set of arrows, and the Gordian Knot were elements which were often joined by leaves and the pomegranate, as well as the motto Tanto monta, monta tanto ("equal opposites in balance"), the personal motto and prenuptial agreement of the Catholic Monarchs Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon as embodied in the song of Pedro Marcuello.

They made an agreement, now called Concordia de Segovia and the coat of arms is a graphic representation of this pact which united the two most important Monarchs on the peninsula.

Over time, the badge of the Catholic Monarchs spread to other heraldic compositions, and was adopted in some of its variants as the emblems of not only towns and cities such Ronda, Marbella and Málaga, but also to countries like Puerto Rico and the Netherlands.

"[39] Juan Aparicio López, a student attending the class, suggested adoption of this symbol for JONS of Onésimo Redondo and Ramiro Ledesma Ramos (Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional-Sindicalista).

"[44] Founders of the Falange ideology, such as José Antonio Primo de Rivera, Juan Aparicio, Ernesto Giménez Caballero, Ramiro Ledesma, Orbegozo, wrote in the journal Fascio that the chosen emblem was also close to that of Italian Fascism.

[citation needed] After the Edict of Milan in the year 313 AD, the Chi Rho appeared on coins, flags and eventually also became part of the shields of the Roman legionaries.

According to Christian legend, the night before the battle of the Ponte Milvio, the Chi-Rho with the words in hoc signo vinces (In this sign, you conquer') appeared to Emperor Constantine the Great in his dreams.

The standard, the flag which was flown at official residences, in barracks, and on ships of the Spanish Navy, was a square which included the previously mentioned elements.

Instead of going out with troops to take the vital points of the capital, he simply proclaimed a state of war and took power with 1,500 men (of whom there were about 140 officers) and approximately 180 Falangists from the Cuartel de la Montaña.

[citation needed] The building, which had been mostly destroyed during the siege, suffered the impact of numerous artillery attacks during the war because of its proximity to the frontlines, which were more or less unchanged since early 1937.

A park, the Parque del Cuartel de la Montaña, was inaugurated on 20 July 1972, when Franco was still in power and Carlos Arias Navarro, the future prime minister, was mayor of Madrid.

They are commemorated by a large white cross on the slopes of the Cerro de San Miguel, near the river Jarama and visible from the airport of Madrid-Barajas.

[83] Human rights groups have called for El Valle de los Caidos to be converted into a centre that would teach visitors about the Civil War and the Francoist State.

[87] The Cerro de los Ángeles (Hill of the Angels) is the site of the Monumento al Sagrado Corazón (Monument of the Sacred Heart).

The original monument was created by architect Carlos Maura Nadal and sculptor Aniceto Marinas y García, and was inaugurated by King Alfonso XIII on 30 May 1919.

There are also streets, avenues and squares in many cities and towns in Spain named for generals of the Civil War and the Nationalist party, such as Mola, Sanjurjo, Moscardó, Yagüe and Millán Astray.

[citation needed] In January 1980, the Madrid city council decided to rename twenty downtown streets, returning them to the names they had before 14 April 1931, when the Second Republic was created.

The Spanish Historical Memory Law, approved by the Congress of Deputies on 31 October 2007, mandated the removal of commemorative plaques, statues and other symbols from public buildings.

[15] Under the 2007 law introduced by the socialist government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Falangist symbols had to be removed from public view, and streets and plazas that honoured Franco and his entourage had to be renamed.

In December 2010, the Valle de los Caídos was reopened, but with tight security systems to prevent vandalism or destruction by militant members of victims' associations.

There are some emblematic symbols such as the yoke and arrows on the Casa Sindical (a brick tower facing the Museo del Prado) and the Central Headquarters of the Movimiento, the Alcalá de Madrid which was built in a rationalist style.