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# Tierra del Fuego Province (Argentina)

## Provincia de Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas del Atlántico Sur

Last modified: 2026-07-18 by rob raeside
Keywords: tierra del fuego | provincia de tierra del fuego | albatross | fire | stars: 5 | star: 5 points (white) | stars: southern cross | competition | penguin | antartida | islas del atlántico sur |
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image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 17 September 2001

- Presentation of the province
- History of the flag
- Coat of arms
- Previous flag proposal?

See also:

- Subdivisions of Tierra del Fuego Province
- Argentina
- Argentine subdivisions (clickable map)

Other sites:

- Jaume Ollé’s page about Tierra del Fuego flags

## Presentation of the province

The province consists officially of:

- Tierra del Fuego (on mainland South America)
- the Argentine claim to the Antarctic continent
- and the Argentine claim to the Falkland Islands, the South Georgia Islands and the South Sandwich Islands (in Spanish: Islas Malvinas, Islas Georgias del Sur, Islas Sandwich del Sur).

Jarig Bakker, 21 Dec 1999

It is known that Argentina, in order to add strength to its claim over the British territories of Falklands Islands and South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands and also to its Antarctic claim (25°W to 74°W, overlapping the British and Chilean claims), joined all these territories to its (undisputed) mainland province of "Fireland", under the common name "Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas del Atlántico Sur."
António Martins-Tuválkin, 21 December 1999

## History of the flag

In June 1999 was celebrated contest about new flag of the province of Tierra del Fuego. The winning flag was designed by Teresa Beatriz Martínez, an architect from Entre Ríos. The design is called «the Albatross». The orange part, fire color, stands fro the geography of the larger island. The blue color stands for the sky and the sea surrounding this province and bonds it to the national flag; the stars of the Southern Cross, which guided so many travellers to these regions, also symbolize the southern location of the islands and other territorial elements taht make up the province. The Albatross is a local bird and its flight symbolizes freedom. The provinces and regions of Southern Chile and Argentina selected similar patterns and colors.
Jaume Ollé, 01 July 1999, 18 January 2000 and 10 August 2000

## Coat of arms

image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 11 December 2004

Untill the adoption of a local emblem, the national coat of arms was used in the territory. In April 26th, 1990, by law 23.775, the Territory of Tierra del Fuego, Antartida e Islas del Atlantico Sur was upgraded to province status and the new emblem was adopted in short term.
Jaume Ollé, 10 Aug 2000

According to Roman Klimeš in [kLm99], the current arms of the territory were devised by Rosana Giménez and introduced on 24 December 1992. The red “garland” around the shield is in fact a flaming glory (aurora). The supporter is an albatros (Klimeš wrote Gules but it is Azure, since his image matches the above).
Ivan Sache, 04 May 2001

The provincial coat of arms: an oval shield (?) featuring a local landscape, with four emperor penguins in foreground against a background with a setting (or rising?) sun behind a mountain over a rocky shore (fjord?); shield encircled with a stylized red aurora and the whole is set on the breast of a highly stylized blue albatross.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 21 Dec 1999

### Previous Coat of arms

According to [kLm99], the first arms for the territory were introduced during the International Geophysical Year (which covered two years, 1957-1958). They appear on a first-day cover on 12 July 1958. Description is Azure (of the shade of the national flag), a Fess Argent: in Chief, a cartographic depiction of the territory Argent, flanked in Dexter by an Anchor Argent with a Sun Or and a Phrygian Cap Gules and in Sinister by th Southern Cross Argent; in Base, an Iceberg and a sailing Ship upon icy Waters; above the Shield a rising Sun in its Glory Or. The supporters are tow Penguins proper standing on a compartment of Ice. On the compartment is a Scroll of the Argentinian national Colours.
Ivan Sache, 04 May 2001

## Previous flag proposal?

image by Blas Delgado, 19 February 2002

This flag could be an early proposal or a commercial banner of some sort related to this land. It was once on a website (I found it some years ago and don’t recall the link), labelled "bandera" (= "flag"), a flag supposedly representing Tierra del Fuego. Jaume Ollé wrote me that he has never seen it before nor anyone has ever presented him this flag, and that the present flag has been the only one flown.
Blas Delgado, 19 February 2002