GARI ERLEAGA.
Abstract:
The author of this article notes that the administrative division of the Basque nation is also reflected in our own national symbology.
Based on this reality, he emphasizes the acceptance of an ancestral Basque symbol, the so-called LAUBURU (“four heads” in Basque). The lauburu is a symbol that unites all Basques, regardless of our particular ideologies.
It already appears in some stone inscriptions from Roman times, also in the Middle Ages, and on tombstones and doorways of houses from the XVI and XVII centuries, on both sides of our country (south and north of the Pyrenees). The Basques of the Diaspora have extended its use, and today it is possible to find it in the five continents.
The emergence of modern Basque nationalism at the end of the 19th century further extended its use throughout the seven historical territories of our country.
The author mentions an extensive work on the Lauburu and other Basque national symbols, called “Lauburu, euskal nazioaren ikur?”. In it, a model flag with the Lauburu as its main element is proposed as the national flag.
In the author’s opinion, that flag could have more acceptance than the current ikurrina or the flag with the chains of Navarre.
