This page is part of © FOTW Flags Of The World website

Bolama Region / Bissagots Islands (Guinea Bissau)

Região de Bolama / Arquipélago dos Bijagós

Last modified: 2016-06-18 by antónio martins
Keywords: bijagós | bissagos | bolama | galpis | gropis | human figure |
Links: FOTW homepage | search | disclaimer and copyright | write us | mirrors



[]

See also:

[]

Presentation

Bolama Region is conterminous with the Bissagot Archipelago: Its 88 islands and islets, of which around 20 are permanently inhabited, are further grouped in four sectors. As for the other regions and sectors of the country, I could not find any data about any flag use, either current or historical.
António Martins, 15 Jun 2016

[]

Galpis/Gropis island

[]

Pre-colonial flag

Gropis flag
image by Eugene Ipavec,
09 Feb 2010 | two-sided reverse

The 74th flag mentioned and illustrated in the Book of All Kingdoms [f0fXX] is attributed to «Gropis» — in [f0f12] glossed «Galpis» in ruby and identified as «one of the Bissagots», i.e., in current Guinea-Bissau.

The anonymous author of [f0fXX] describes the flag thusly: «E el rey dende á por señales un pendón blanco con la figura de su ídola tal.» (=«The King’s device is a white flag with the figure of his idol.», as translated in [f0f12].)

This as depicted in the 2005 spanish illustrated transcription [f0f05], a white flag with a black human contour, suggesting a loincloth and a turban, facing the fly and pointing left and right with downstretched arms, the flag in the ogival default shape of this source. According to [f0f12], the manuscript "S" [f0fXXs] shows this flag, but manuscript "N" [f0fXXn] shows instead a shield (not a flag), white with red edge and a black outline of a man walking dexter with his head shaped as a crocodile’s.

António Martins, 05 Dec 2007


Anything below this line was not added by the editor of this page.