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The Sun of May as it appears in the current version of the flags of Argentina (left) and Uruguay (right).

The Sun of May (Spanish: Sol de Mayo) is one of the national symbols of the Platine countries of Argentina and Uruguay, featured in their respective flags and coats of arms.[1][2] It is named after the May Revolution of 1810, the event that kickstarted the Argentine War of Independence. It is also known as the Inca sun (Spanish: "sol incaico"),[3][4] since the most widespread explanation of its meaning is that it represents Inti, the solar god of the Incas.[1][5] The Sun of May is heir to the long previous use of the sun in European heraldry.[5][6] It consists of a golden disc with a face from which rays emerge, alternating between flaming ones rotating clockwise and straight ones; in the Argentine case being 32 rays,[7] while in the Uruguayan case it conforms to the convention of the European heraldry of 16 rays.[6] However, the original lack of regulation regarding the sun's design led to a great variety of different styles over time, until they were definitively standardized by law in the middle of the 20th century.[1][6]

The first official use of the sun as a national symbol was in 1813 with the Constituent Assembly of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata,[1] appearing on its seal (which would later become Argentina's national coat of arms) and on its first national coins.[5]


Characteristics

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The Sun of May of Argentina has 32 rays, of which sixteen are flaming rays rotating clockwise and sixteen are straight rays placed alternately.[7]

History

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Origin and first uses

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The sun was formally used as a symbol of the nascent United Provinces of the Río de la Plata for the first time in 1813, when the Assembly of Year XIII incorporated it in its official seal (left)—which later became the coat of arms of Argentina—and in the first national coins (right). The sun design of the latter is the one used in the current flag of Argentina.

The first use of the sun as a symbol in the Río de la Plata region was in late 1810, as an insignia on military uniforms.[1] However, the first formal use of the sun was in the official seal of the Assembly of Year XIII (so named because it was held in 1813), a constituent assembly for the nascent United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, the successor state to the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata after the Spanish authorities in the capital Buenos Aires were removed in the May Revolution (from which the Sun of May takes its name) of 25 May 1810.[1] In 1944, the seal was officially declared as the national coat of arms of Argentina through a presidential decree.[8] Since the forces of Buenos Aires were occupying the city of Potosí in Alto Perú at that time, the Assembly of Year XIII also decided that the Spanish real coinage made at the Mint of Potosí should change its design.[5] The legislators determined that the obverse of the new coins should have the seal of the assembly but without the rising sun, which instead appeared in its entirety on the reverse, a sign of the importance it had as a symbol of the new nation.[5] Although the sun of these coins is considered to be the same as that of the seal of the Assembly of the Year XIII, there is a slight difference between the two: in the former, the flaming rays all have the same direction, varying their orientation depending on their issue, while in the latter the rays alternate between hourly and counterclockwise.[9]

The Cápac Raymi, an annual feast celebrating the December solstice.
The Sapa Inca Pachacuti praying at the Coricancha temple.
The most widespread explanation locates the origin of the Sun of May in the Inca worship of the solar god Inti, here depicted in two books from c. 1615: El primer nueva corónica y buen gobierno (left) and Martín de Murúa's chronicles (right).

The Sun of May is also known as the "Inca sun" (Spanish: "sol incaico"),[3][4] as the most widespread explanation states it represents Inti, the solar god of the Incas.[1] The supposed Inca origin of the symbol is often related to the fact that the national coat of arms was made by Juan de Dios Rivera, a goldsmith of Inca descent originally from Cusco but based in Buenos Aires.[10] For this reason, he is regarded by some as the creator of the Sun of May.[11] However, the are no primary sources to confirm this,[1] especially because the minutes of the Assembly of Year XIII disappeared after 1852, when they were inventoried by the Ejército Grande following the Battle of Caseros.[12] In reality, Rivera followed the instructions he received from the government, and recent research has demonstrated the existence of a French revolutionary emblem from late 18th century that served as a model for the seal.[9][13]

As noted by former president Bartolomé Mitre in a 1900 letter adressed to José María Gutiérrez: "The revolution was dominated by the idea of promoting a new uprising of the Inca masses against Spanish domination in Upper Peru. The adoption of the heraldic Sun in the national coat of arms was, undoubtedly, a motive of attraction and reverence for the indigenous Quechua and Aymara peoples who worshipped the sun."[5] However, Mitre also pointed out in this letter that, in his opinion, the inclusion of the sun on the seal of the Assembly of the Year III was a reference to the sun that accompanied the Latin motto "A solis ortu usque ad occasum" in ornamented versions of the coat of arms of the Kings of Spain.[5] This is related to the fact that the independence process in Argentina began when news of the destitution of King Ferdinand VII by Napoleon Bonaparte arrived in Buenos Aires, causing the viceroy to be dismissed by the local elite under a professed loyalty to the absent king.[5] Some Argentine historians have interpreted this as the so-called "mask of Ferdinand VII", arguing that it was a masquerade to conceal the true independence intention, although others have disputed this hypothesis and complexified the causes surrounding the May Revolution.[14]

http://dspace5.filo.uba.ar/bitstream/handle/filodigital/7053/uba_ffyl_IHAYA_a_Boletín%20del%20Instituto%20de%20Historia%20Argentina%20y%20Americana_22_73-100.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Inclusion in the Argentine flag

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1944:

In the center of the white band of the official flag, the figurative sun of the eight escudos gold coin and the eight reales silver coin engraved on the first Argentine currency, by law of the Sovereign General Constituent Assembly of April 13, 1813, shall be reproduced, with the thirty-two flaming and straight rays placed alternately and in the same position as seen on those coins. The color of the sun will be the yellow of gold.[15]

https://ifinra.files.wordpress.com/2023/02/un-detalle-desapercibido-en-el-sol-de-las-primeras-monedas-patrias-1.pdf

In Uruguay

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The Sun of May as seen in an Uruguayan peso coin of 1869 (left) and in the first Uruguayan postage stamp of 1856 (right).

In 1828, at the end of the Cisplatine War, which confronted the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata and the Empire of Brazil for the control of the Banda Oriental, both countries signed a peace negotiation, mediated by England, in which they gave birth to the new independent state of Uruguay.[2] At the end of that year, the new state adopted its first official flag, composed of 9 white stripes alternated with 9 light blue stripes (in reference to the nine departments that composed the country at the time) and the Sun of May in the upper left corner, taking the symbolism of the Argentine independence.[2] Later, a few days before the swearing in of the Constitution in July 1830, the design of the flag was modified: the 9 light blue stripes were reduced to 4, which totaled 9 alternating stripes and thus maintained the symbolism of the departments.[6] The law also determined that the design of the sun should be the same as that of the national coat of arms.[2]

The sun was one of the aspects of the Uruguayan flag that changed the most over time, since the original law of creation only mentions a "white square in which the sun will be placed", which resulted in there being no regulations in its design.[6] Despite the great variety of styles used in the 19th century, the most common design of the sun consisted of a "small faceted disk (with a face), with a multiplicity of straight rays joined together on its sides, of varying lengths and widths, thinner at its base, so that it formed an irregular outer 'circle' with as many points as there were rays."[6]



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  1. Chair belonging to the Uruguayan revolutionary Juan Antonio Lavalleja exhibited at the National Historical Museum, Montevideo.
  2. Façade of the Solís Theater in Montevideo.
  3. Depiction of the coat of arms of Uruguay by Arthur Onslow, c. 1832.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Gregoric, Francisco (24 February 2018). "Un sol que cumple 200 años". La Nación (in Spanish). Buenos Aires. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d Borges, Leonardo (2019). La historia escondida del Uruguay: mitos, verdades y dudas de nuestra historia (eBook) (in Spanish). Montevideo: Ediciones B. Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial. ISBN 978-997-489-516-4. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Escudo Nacional" (in Spanish). Buenos Aires: Casa Rosada. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Bandera Nacional" (in Spanish). Buenos Aires: Casa Rosada. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Giménez Puig, Manuel (2013). "Las monedas potosinas autónomas de 1813 y 1815 y el escudo nacional argentino". OMNI, revue internationale de numismatique (in Spanish) (6). France: Editions OMNI (Objets et Monnaies Non Identifiés): 209–219. ISSN 2104-8363. Retrieved 25 March 2024 – via Dialnet.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Alvez de Assis, Gerardo (2021). "La evolución del diseño de la bandera uruguaya entre 1830 y 1930, a lo largo de los siglos XIX y XX" (in Spanish). Montevideo: La Patria. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  7. ^ a b "Tres datos sobre el Sol de Mayo" (in Spanish). Buenos Aires: Casa Rosada. 6 December 2017. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
  8. ^ "Día del Escudo Nacional: ¿cómo se creó y qué significa su diseño?". La Nación (in Spanish). Buenos Aires. 12 March 2024. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  9. ^ a b Pezzano, Luciano; Gregoric, Francisco (2020). "Un detalle desapercibido en el sol de las primeras monedas patrias" (PDF). Anuario Argentino de Numismática (in Spanish). III. Buenos Aires: Instituto Federal de Investigadores Numismáticos de la República Argentina (IFINRA): 51–72. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
  10. ^ "Estación del Sol de Mayo" (in Spanish). Buenos Aires: Casa Rosada. 29 November 2017. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  11. ^ Guerrero, Luis (17 October 2023). "¿Sabías que un peruano diseñó el sol de la bandera de Argentina y Uruguay? Conoce su historia". La República (in Spanish). Lima. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  12. ^ Ortiz de Rozas, Carlos (15 October 2006). "Símbolo patrio: la incógnita del escudo" (in Spanish). Buenos Aires: La Nación. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  13. ^ "Un emblema francés habría inspirado el Escudo Nacional". Clarín (in Spanish). Buenos Aires. 29 September 2011. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  14. ^ Falcucci, Fabricio (25 May 2022). "Una mirada sobre las complejidades del 25 de Mayo". La Gaceta (in Spanish). San Miguel de Tucumán. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
  15. ^ La Bandera Nacional de la República Argentina (PDF) (in Spanish). Buenos Aires: Ministerio del Interior de la República Argentina; Instituto Nacional Belgraniano. 2012. pp. 79–83. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
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  • Media related to the Sun of May at Wikimedia Commons
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