Wiphala

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Wiphala of Qulla Suyu, co-official flag of Bolivia since 2009

The Wiphala (Quechua pronunciation: [wɪˈpʰɐlɐ]) is a square emblem, commonly used as a flag, representing some native peoples of all the Andes that include today's Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and parts of Argentina, Chile and Colombia.

The suyu wiphalas are composed of a 7-by-7 square patchwork in seven colours, arranged diagonally. The precise configuration depends on the particular suyu represented by the emblem. The colour of the longest diagonal line (seven squares) determines which of the four suyus (regions) the flag represents: white for Qullasuyu, yellow for Kuntisuyu, red for Chinchaysuyu, and green for Antisuyu. There is also an alternate pattern for the Wiphala for Antinsuyu. Additionally a Wiphala also exists for Tupac Katari and the Tupac Katari Guerrilla Army.

Article 6, section II of the new Bolivian constitution establishes the Wiphala as the dual flag of Bolivia along with the red, yellow, and green banner.[1][2]

History

In modern times the Whipala has been confused with a rainbow flag which is wrongly associated with the Tawantinsuyu. There is debate as to whether there was an Inca or Tawantisuyu flag. There are 16th and 17th-century chronicles and references that support the idea of a banner attributable to the Inca. However, it represented the Inca himself, not the empire. Also its origins are from symbols and mural designs found in several civilizations of the Andes with thousands of years of history.

Francisco López de Jerez[3] wrote in 1534:

They all came divided up in squads with their flags and commanding captains, with as much order as the Turks.
("todos venían repartidos en sus escuadras con sus banderas y capitanes que los mandan, con tanto concierto como turcos").

The chronicler Bernabé Cobo wrote:

… the "guión" or royal standard [an ecclesiastical processional banner] was a small, square small banner, of about 10-12 hands ["palmos" is a measure from those times and it refers to a length similar to a hand. Ruedo is the total length of the cloth], made of cotton or woolen cloth, that was carried at the top of a long flagpole, and was stiff, with no wave on the air; each king painted his arms and emblems (badges) on the banner; because each one (king) chose different ones (paintings on his banner), although the common ones among the Incas had the rainbow [sky arch]

(...el guión o estandarte real era una banderilla cuadrada y pequeña, de diez o doce palmos de ruedo, hecha de lienzo de algodón o de lana, iba puesta en el remate de una asta larga, tendida y tiesa, sin que ondease al aire, y en ella pintaba cada rey sus armas y divisas, porque cada uno las escogía diferentes, aunque las generales de los Incas eran el arco celeste.)
–Bernabé Cobo, Historia del Nuevo Mundo (1653)

Guaman Poma's 1615 book El primer nueva corónica y buen gobierno shows numerous line drawings of Inca flags.[4]

The Museum of World Culture in Gothenburg, Sweden, holds a Wiphala that is dated through a C-14 test to the 11th century. It originates from the Tiwanaku region, and is part of collection of a Kallawaya medicine man grave.[5]

Seven colors

The seven colors of the actual Wiphala originate from the visible spectrum. The significance and meanings for each color are as follows:

  • Red: The Earth and the Andean man
  • Orange: Society and culture
  • Yellow: Energy
  • White: Time
  • Green: Natural resources
  • Blue: The heavens
  • Violet: Andean government and self-determination

Andean peoples and social movements

Wiphala on the Flag Day 2007 parade in Rosario, Argentina.
Aimara parade in Oruro, Bolivia with the official Wiphala
Current flag of the city of Cusco, wrongly associated with the Inca.
Flag of Cusco flying on the main square

Social movements in Ecuador

Today in Ecuador, it is readily identified with the Indian Social movement mainly represented by CONAIE (Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador). This organization has had an important role in massive protests in the late 1990s and 2000s which have brought down three presidents perceived as corrupt and responsible for the impoverishment of Ecuadorians.[citation needed] The flag of CONAIE is a wiphala with a mask in the middle from a pre-Inca Ecuadorian coastal peoples known as La Tolita.

The flag is displayed by marches of the CONAIE movement and also it is used by its political faction the Movimiento de Unidad Plurinacional Pachakutik - Nuevo País (a Pachakutik-inspired Movement) which participates in elections and has a considerable legislative representation. The concept of pachakutik, a Quechua word related with the vision and the hope of a better future for Andean people. The MUPP was formed in the 1990s mainly by an alliance of the CONAIE with peasant organizations and urban social movements. It also finds sympathy in local LGBT, feminist and Afro-Ecuadorian circles and activists.[6]

The Bolivian Wiphala

The Aimara wiphala is a square flag divided into 7x7 (49) squares. The seven rainbow colors are placed in diagonal squares. The exact arrangement and colors varies with the different versions, corresponding to the suyus or Tupac Katari. It is very prominent in marches of indigenous and peasant movements in Bolivia.

This "rainbow squares" flag is used as the pan-indigenous flag of Andean peoples in Bolivia and has recently occasionally been adopted by Amazonian groups in political alliance.

Bolivian President Evo Morales established the Qullasuyu wiphala as the nation's dual flag along with the previous red, yellow, and green banner in the newly ratified constitution. The Wiphala has been included into the national colours of the Bolivian Air Force such as the executive Dassault Falcon 900EX.[7] The Wiphala is also officially flown on governmental buildings such as the Palacio Quemado and parliament alongside the tricolor since the introduction of the revised 2009 constitution.[8]

Confusion with flag of the city of Cusco (Perú)

A flag with a seven-striped rainbow design is used in Peru[9] to supposedly represent Tawantin Suyu, or Inca territory. Even today in the city of Cusco, Peru it is common to see the flag around the city displayed even in local government buildings and in Cuzco main square. The meaning behind of this flag has to be found in connection with the Incas and with the cosmovision and philosophy of Andean indigenous culture.[10]

Unlike the gay pride flag, the Cusco flag uses light blue instead of turquoise. Some have suggested adopting a new flag to avoid confusion with the gay pride flag. There is also a version that has a white stripe between the yellow and green stripes, and a light blue stripe is not used. The biggest differences is that the gay flag has 6 colors, while the Andean flag includes 7 colors.

The Wiphala has been constantly confused with this rainbow flag which is the current official flag of the city of Cusco (Peru). In modern times this rainbow flag is wrongly associated to the Inca Empire and displayed as a symbol of Inca heritage by some groups in Peru and Bolivia. However, it should be noted that while the wiphala is an emblem related principally to Aymara people, the Inca had its origin in a different ethnia, the Quechua people.

According to Peruvian historiography, the Inca Empire (tawantinsuyu) never had a flag. María Rostworowski, a Peruvian historian known for her extensive and detailed publications about Peruvian Ancient Cultures and the Inca Empire, said about this: «I bet my life, the Inca never had that flag, it never existed, no chronicler mentioned it».[11]

Also, to the Peruvian newspaper El Comercio, the flag only dates to the first decades of the 20th century,[12] and even the Congress of the Republic of Peru has determined that flag is a fake by citing the conclusion of National Academy of Peruvian History:

"The official use of the wrongly called 'Tawantinsuyu flag' is a mistake. In the Pre-Hispanic Andean World there did not exist the concept of a flag, it did not belong to their historic context".[12]
National Academy of Peruvian History

Controversy

While popular with Bolivia's indigenous majority that back Morales and MAS, the wiphala has proven controversial amongst the country's traditionally ruling whites and mestizos that form the political opposition based in the Eastern Departments. The opposition contends that the indigenous movement led by Morales intends to ultimately replace the traditional tricolor with the wiphala and that its establishment as the country's dual flag is the first step towards this goal. Furthermore, many Bolivians, including some indigenous people, feel that the wiphala highlights Bolivia's racial tensions and in fact furthers the divide between the lower class majority of indigenous Aymara, Quechua and Guaraní groups and the minority of upper and middle class whites and mestizos.[13]

Others

See also

References

  1. "Bandera indígena boliviana es incluida como símbolo patrio en nueva Constitución", October 21, 2008, United Press International.
  2. Republic of Bolivia, [Text of the proposed] Nueva Constitución Política del Estado, 2007.
  3. Francisco López de Jerez,Verdadera relacion de la conquista del Peru y provincia de Cuzco, llamada la Nueva Castilla, 1534.
  4. Guaman Poma, El primer nueva corónica y buen gobierno, (1615/1616), pp. 256, 286, 344, 346, 400, 434, 1077, this pagination corresponds to the Det Kongelige Bibliotek search engine pagination of the book. Additionally Poma shows both well drafted European flags and coats of arms on pp. 373, 515, 558, 1077. On pages 83, 167–171 Poma uses a European heraldic graphic convention, a shield, to place certain totems related to Inca leaders. There is no evidence of linear (Wiphala-like) patchwork.
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  6. Inca empire#Organization of the empire
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  9. Inca (Quechua / Aymara) people (Western South America)
  10. revista.serindigena.cl - Whipala, Símbolo de la Nación Andina
  11. Bandera Gay o Bandera del Tahuantinsuyo Terra.com
  12. 12.0 12.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. [1]

External links