Bandera Negra

Bandera Negra (Black Flag) or Santa Germandat Catalana (Holy Catalan Brotherhood) was the secret, armed sub-organization of the Estat Català political party, founded on May 3, 1925.

Bandera Negra
Dates of operation	1925–1926
Motives	Independence of Catalonia
Ideology	Catalan independence movement Catalan nationalism

Its name referred to the black flag raised by the defenders of Barcelona in the Catalan Campaign (1713-1714) on August 1, 1714, signaling to the Bourbon troops that they would fight to the death and never surrender.^[1] On September 12, however, they did surrender, ending the cause of the Archduke of Austria. Regardless, historian Enric Ucelay-Da Cal still calls it "the traditional symbol associated with the will to kill or die".^[2]

History

Historian Enric Ucelay-Da Cal explains how Bandera Negra was born:^[2]

In Bertrellans Street, a dark alley parallel to the commercial street (then in full development and construction) of Portal de l'Àngel, there was a flat with a small excursion group called the Serra del Cadí. They were few, but many of them would have outstanding performances in the following years. They decided on what would later be called the armed route. With that intention, they took on a clandestine identity and defined themselves as a "secret Catalan brotherhood" with the sonorous and threatening name of Black Flag... They established contact with Manuel Pagès, Cardona's deputy and organizer of new squads or escamots...

The organization had approximately twelve leading members and some sympathizers. The most notable head of the organization was Marcel·lí Perelló, together with Jaume Compte (also a member of the Autonomous Center of Trade and Industry Dependents). Notable members include: Miquel Badia, Daniel Cardona (head abroad), Ramon Xammar, Emili Granier Barrera, Jaume Julià, Joan Bertran and Jaume Balius. It also had committees in Béziers (France) and in Buenos Aires.

Bandera Negra carried out the attack against King Alfonso XIII on the Garraf coast (Garraf plot)^[3] and some other impactful armed actions, such as the bomb attack against the house of the Baron of Maldá.

References

1. The French knight Jacques de Viguier witnessed how they raised a "drapeau noir avec un tête de mort blanche au milieu" - a black flag with a white skull in the middle - and explained it in the letter he addressed to his uncle the next day, 2 August 1714; "Lettre IV. A bord de "Furieux" à la rade de Barcelonne le 2 août 1714"; transcribed by Jean Audouard in Le Siège de Barcelone in 1714, raconté par un arlésien a un arlésien, p.94
2. Ucelay-Da Cal, Enric 2018, p. 101.
3. Crexell, Joan (1988). El complot de Garraf (in Catalan). L'Abadia de Montserrat. ISBN 978-84-7202-982-8.

Further reading

• Ucelay-Da Cal, Enric (2018). Breve historia del separatismo catalán. Barcelona: B. Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial. ISBN 978-84-666-6511-7.