Flag of Madeira
Officially Autonomous Region of Madeira
Locally Região Autónoma da Madeira
What the flag looks like
A vertical triband of blue, gold and blue, with the red-and-white cross of the Order of Christ in the center of the gold band.
What it means
Blue is said to stand for the ocean around the islands and gold for their warmth; the cross of the Order of Christ recalls the Portuguese voyages of discovery that reached Madeira in the 15th century.
How to remember it
Madeira
is blue-gold-blue like Barbados
, but the gold stripe carries a red cross of the Order of Christ instead of a black trident.
Fun facts
- The name means "wood" in Portuguese, after the dense forests the first Portuguese settlers found there around 1420.
- The cross of the Order of Christ was painted on the sails of Portuguese caravels during the Age of Discovery.
Madeira at a glance
- Status
- Autonomous region of Portugal
- Sovereign state
- Portugal
- Capital
- Funchal
- Region
- Autonomous region of Portugal
- Population
- 250,769
- Area
- 801 km²
- Languages
- Portuguese
- Currency
- Euro (€)
- Flag adopted
- 1978
Flags often confused with Madeira
- Barbados: Madeira and Barbados are both vertical blue-gold-blue. Barbados has a black trident head on the gold stripe; Madeira has a red-and-white cross of the Order of Christ.