Portal:Brazil/Selected article/17
The flag of Brazil has a green field on which a large yellow rhombus is centered. A blue circle is placed within the rhombus, with white stars of five different sizes and a curved white band running through it. The motto Ordem e Progresso ("Order and Progress") is inscribed in capital letters (of the same shade of green as the field) inside the band. It is one of the few national flags that doesn’t have the generally blood-and-war-related colors red or black in any part of their composition.
This flag is sometimes called Auriverde which means "(of) gold and green". The next-to-last stanza of Castro Alves' Navio Negreiro, for example, uses that term. The modern flag was officially adopted on November 19, 1889. The concept was the work of Raimundo Teixeira Mendes, with the collaboration of Miguel Lemos and Manuel Pereira Reis. The design was executed by Décio Vilares. The current national flag and ensign maintains the same design with some minor changes. This 27-star version was adopted on May 12, 1992 (Law 8.421, May 11, 1992).