Azores

Azores
Country	Portugal
Adopted	April 10, 1979
Designed by	Regional Assembly of the Azores
Proportions	2:3

The flag of the Azores contains a rectangular bicolour of blue and white superimposed by a golden goshawk and surmounted by nine stars with traditional Portuguese shield in the left corner.

Symbolism

Explorers from Portugal named the islands "Azores", from the Portuguese word açor, meaning goshawk, because it was supposed to be a common bird at the time of the discovery, despite the bird never existing on the islands. Thus the flag depicts a golden goshawk between the blue and white.

The shield of Portugal represents the Portuguese patriotism of the Azorean people, Blue and white were traditional colours used by the Portuguese nation and also represent the Portuguese Constitutional Monarchy borne in the Azores, the nine stars symbolize the archipelago's nine islands.