Last modified: 2025-09-27 by olivier touzeau
Keywords: spain | eagle |
Links: FOTW homepage |
search |
disclaimer and copyright |
write us |
mirrors
See also:
Joseph Napoleon I, king of Spain (1808-1813), was Joseph Bonaparte (born Corte 1768, died Firenze 1844), brother of the Emperor Napoleon I. Following his conquests, the Emperor placed members of his family on the throne of various European states, some of them being created accordingly. Joseph was first king of Naples (1806). When Napoleon expelled the Bourbons from Spain, he placed Joseph on the throne of Spain and gave the throne of Naples to Marshal Murat, former Commander-in-Chief of the French troops in Spain and husband of Caroline Bonaparte, Napoleon's sister. The long and difficult Spanish War of Independence, famously illustrated by the painter Goya, ended with the overthrow of Joseph in 1814.
Ivan Sache, 11 Nov 2001
![[Flag]](../images/e/es~1808!.gif)
War ensign of the Kingdom of Spain under Jose I Napoleon -© Jimmy Nicolle, CC-BY-SA, Wikimedia Commons, 16 May 2012
Image reported by Olivier Touzeau, 22 September 2025
[Warning - the following link includes images of several non-existent or invented flags]
At vividmaps.com [maps and flags of the Ephemeral States of the Napoleonic Period], the French Spain Kingdom of Jose I Napoleon, 1808-1813 the white banner with a Napoleonic version of the pre-1785 white flag seems odd.
Ben Cahoon, 29 June 2024
On this subject, "Le Guichet du savoir", a service by the Library of Lyon, reports that:
"Finally, in 1808, Joseph Bonaparte changed his coat of arms and created a new flag: a return to white for the background, with a shield divided into six with the arms of Castile, Leon, Aragon, Navarre, Granada, and the American possessions, still with the eagle of the imperial family on top. However, since it served his supporters, it is not certain that it was used much by the Spanish. And yet it too was a Spanish flag during the reign of Joseph Bonaparte!
« Por Decreto de 12 de julio de 1808, dado en Vitoria, el autotitulado José I modifica la heráldica y lo que hace es sobre un paño blanco, utiliza sus armas, compaginándolas con las propias de los reinos de España. » "
The source quoted by "Guichet du Savoir" are:
And according to this last page:
"A turbulent reign began with the Peninsular War (1808-1814), during which, by force, many rules and regulations were repealed. The multiplicity of units, guerrillas, and volunteers led some to adopt flags of their own design, most of which displayed religious insignia, patriotic phrases, or regional motifs.
The predominant colour was white, although some corps used very different flags, some red and yellow, popularised by the display of these colours in the seafront plaza of Cadiz. During the ephemeral reign of Joseph Napoleon I the colour white was maintained, only the composition of the coat of arms being altered according to the Royal Decree of 12 July 1808. The arms of the Crown would henceforth consist of a shield divided into six quarters, the first of which would be that of Castile, the second that of Leon, the third that of Aragon, the fourth that of Navarre, the fifth that of Granada and the sixth that of the Indies (the first time it appears on an official coat of arms), the latter represented, according to ancient custom, by two globes and two columns, and in the centre of all of these the eagle of the imperial family would be superimposed as a shield; this, naturally, only affected his followers: we can quote Don Cesárea Fernández Duro, who in Armada Española (volume IX, chapter I, page 9), referring to the supporters of Joseph Napoleon, says: "They did not manage to have a single warship on which to hoist the new flag of their sovereignty."
Therefore this white flag is the ensign that would have been flown on a warship during the reign of Joseph Napoleon on Spain if his supporters had been able to do it.
Olivier Touzeau, 22 September 2025
