A Thousand Shades of Blue

Continuing its tradition of including intriguing trivia (only tangentially related to business) on its front page, yesterday's Wall Street Journal published a fascinating piece (if that link fails, check this mirror at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) on the history of the blue in the Argentine national flag, which boils down to a fight over shade and saturation between supporters and opponents of General Juan Manuel de Rosas during the country's 19th century civil war:

Dark blue is identified with the losing side, the Federalists, and their leader, the infamous strongman Gen. Juan Manuel de Rosas, who sought greater autonomy for provinces and close ties to the Roman Catholic Church. Lighter blue is identified with the liberal opponents of Gen. Rosas, especially the Unitarios, who wanted a more centralized government.

Recently, Lorenzo Pepe, an ex-congressman with the dominant Peronist party, tried to pass a law darkening the blue just before La Crisis of 2001, to no avail.

Stupid flotsam:
* In Argentina , the student with the best grades is the flag carrier (the abanderado) for his class/school events.
* In English, Spanish actor Antonio Banderas's name means "Tony Flags", which gives him a bit of a Sopranos edge. Never had that stupid observation before, huh?
* Argentines call the main color of their national flag celeste (that is color of the day sky at the normal angles of sight). Followers of the Partido Justicialista (Peronists) prefer cyan (a mix of blue and green), those of the Unión Cívica Radical (Radicals) prefer whitish blue. Anything in between is also acceptable, but saturated blue definitely not. Gerardo W. Fischer, 22 Jun 1996