Flag of Espírito Santo

Unofficial flag of the province of Espírito Santo.

Before the proclamation of the First Brazilian Republic, when Espírito Santo was a province of the Empire of Brazil, it had an unofficial blue and red vertical bicolor as its flag. This was inspired by the flag of France.[2]

The modern flag was created in 1908 by Jerônimo de Sousa Monteiro, the governor of Espírito Santo, to strengthen the identity of the state during a period of modernization and industrialization. He established blue, white, and pink as the official state colors on 7 September 1909.[2] The flag was then adopted on 24 April 1947 through Decree 16.618 of the state of Espírito Santo.[1]

In 1989, Paulo Fundão, the public relations officer of the now-defunct Vitória Iron and Steel Company, led a campaign to change the pink of the flag to red. He believed that secondary colors were not appropriate to be used in flags. This met strong resistance from both state residents and politicians alike, which led Max Mauro, the then governor, to reject Fundão's proposition.[2][3]

The color and text on the flag come from Espírito Santo's strong Catholic history and identity. The colors on the flag are inspired by the mantle of Our Lady of Victory, the patron saint of the state capital of Vitória. The blue represents harmony, the white represents peace, and pink represents happiness. The text on the flag, "TRABALHA E CONFIA" (Portuguese: Work and trust), is derived from the doctrine of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, who said "Trabalha como se tudo dependesse de ti e confia como se tudo dependesse de Deus" (Portuguese: Work as if everything depended on you and trust as if everything depended on God).[2]