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Esperanto symbols, primarily theEsperanto flag, have seen much consistency over the time ofEsperanto's existence (namely in the consistent usage of the colour green), though a few variations in exact flag patterning and symbology exist.
The main flag of Esperanto, featuring theVerda Stelo ('Green Star'), was adopted in 1905 for use as a symbol of mutual recognition amongEsperantists, and is used by most Esperantists. As an alternative to the flag, thejubilea simbolo ('jubilee symbol') was proposed in 1987.
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Since the earliest days of Esperanto, the colour green has been used as a symbol of mutual recognition, and it appears prominently in all Esperanto symbols.[1] In a letter toThe British Esperantist in 1911,L. L. Zamenhof, the creator of Esperanto, wrote: "It seems to me, that my attention was drawn to the color green by Mr.Richard H. Geoghegan and from that time I began to publish all of my works with green covers . . . Looking at one of my pamphlets that I had entirely by chance printed with a green cover, he pointed out that this was the color of his homeland, Ireland; at that time it came to me, that we could certainly look at that color as a symbol of HOPE. About the five-pointed star, it seems to me, that at first Mr.de Beaufront had it imprinted on his grammar [of Esperanto]. I liked that and I adopted it as a symbol. Afterward by association of ideas, the star appeared with a green color."[2]
TheVerda Stelo was first proposed in an 1892 article inLa Esperantisto for use as a symbol of mutual recognition amongEsperantists. Theflag was created by the Esperanto Club ofBoulogne-sur-Mer, initially for their own use, but was adopted as the flag of the worldwide Esperanto movement by a decision of the firstWorld Esperanto Congress, which took place in 1905 in that town.
In 1905, delegates to the first conference of Esperantists at Boulogne-sur-Mer, unanimously approved a version differing from the modern only by the superimposition of an "E" over the green star. Other variants include that for Christian Esperantists, with a white Christian cross superimposed upon the green star, and that for Leftists, with the color of the field changed from green to red.[3]
Some Esperanto speakers[who?] consider the traditional flag toonationalistic for an internationallanguage, so many organizations no longer recommend its use and, instead, use thejubilea simbolo (jubilee symbol, two green "E"s facing each other—or alternatively a Latin-alphabet "E" facing a Cyrillic-alphabet "Э", the first letter of "Эсперанто", the Russian name for Esperanto—on a white field).[4]: 96 This symbol was created in 1987 by aBrazilian Esperantist to mark the centenary of the creation of Esperanto.[citation needed]
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The Esperantoflag is composed of a green background with a white square (canton) in the upper lefthand corner, which in turn contains a green star. The green field symbolizeshope,[5] the white symbolizespeace and neutrality[citation needed], and thefive-pointed star represents the fivecontinents (Europe,America,Asia,Oceania,Africa).[5]
By recommendation of the board of theUniversal Esperanto Association, the flag should have the following proportions: The ratio of the width of the flag to the height of the flag to a side of the white square should be 3 to 2 to 1. The ratio of a side of the white square to the radius of a circle enclosing the star should be 10 to 3.5.
Most Esperantists continue to hold theverda stelo dear as a symbol of international or supranational solidarity (with thejubilea simbolo jokingly calledla melono ('the melon') by some), though many also regard the preference of one symbol over another as a purely personal choice. At most Esperanto congresses, the flag, the star, and thejubilea simbolo can all be seen in use on displays or being worn as badges. Sometimes, Esperanto travelers will display the flag, wear a badge with one of the above symbols, or even wear green clothes, to make themselves known to other Esperanto speakers.[6]
On December 15, 2009, theVerda Stelo flew on theGoogle home search page "Google" logo to markL. L. Zamenhof's 150th birthday. The flag flew on a flagstaff consisting of the "L" in thesearch-company's name.[7]
Green being the colour adopted by the international Esperanto community, usually in the form of either a green star, or a green flag with a white star
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)Many Esperantists display a habit of wearing t-shirts portraying Zamenhof and declaring knowledge of Esperanto