REGIONS OF CHILE
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The indigenous
inhabitants of Araucanía, the Mapuche, had resisted for more than three hundred years
Spanish attempts at conquest known as the Arauco War. They had also
previously defeated the Incas. Whilst their frontier with the Inca empire had
been along the Maule River, the Spaniards succeeded in establishing it at the
Bío-Bío River. When the Arauco War faded in the 18th and 19th centuries,
commercial relations began to grow and cultural and ethnic mixing increased
in the frontier territories. Ambrose O'Higgins, vice-king of Peru
(1796-1801), and other Chilean authorities made agreements with several
Mapuche chiefs to end the hostilities on both sides. In parliaments held in
late 18th century several Mapuche leaders accepted the Spanish king as the de
jure ruler of Araucanía but had their de facto autonomy recognised by the
Spanish authorities. In the 19th
century the new Chilean Republic for economic and geopolitical reasons wanted
to annexate the territory. Thus Manuel
Montt as President of Chile in 1852 announced the province of Arauco,
intended to administer all territories south of the Bío-Bío and north of the
Toltén River. In 1860, under
the then Chilean president José Joaquín Pérez Mascayano, the proclamation
of "the Kingdom of Araucania and Patagonia"
by a French lawyer became the pretext for the formal incorporation of
Araucanía. |
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The Kingdom |
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In 1860 Orllie-Antoine de Tounens, a french
adventurer and lawyer who had come to sympathise with the Mapuche cause was elected
by a group of loncos
(Mapuche tribal leaders) to the position of King, possibly in the belief that
their cause might be better served with a European acting on their behalf..
In a decree Orllie-Antoine proclaimed a kingdom with himself as a hereditary
king. The translation
of the decree reads: WE, PRINCE ORLLIE-ANTOINE DE TOUNENS, Considering that Araucania is not depending
from any State; that it is divided in tribes and that a Central Government is
desired for the particular interest as well as for general order, We decree the following: Art. 1 A constitutional and hereditary
monarchy is established in Araucania; Prince Philip Orllie-Antoine de Tounens
is appointed king. Art. 2. In case that the king will not have
descendants, his heirs will be elected from the other branches of his family,
according to the order which will be established later by a royal decree. Art. 3. Until the governing bodies have been
established, the royal orders will have the authority of a law. Art. 4. Our Minister, Secretary of State, is
charged with the execution of this decree. Done in Araucania 17 November 1860
Orllie-Antoine 1er On behalf of the King: The Minister, Secretary
of State of the Ministry of Justice, F. Desfontaines.[1] |
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He then set
about establishing a government in his capital of Perquenco, created
a blue, white and green flag, hoisted for the first time in 1861 and adopted
a coat of arms:
It was: Arms: Quarterly, the first Purpure, a Virgin with a crown of laurel and a
phrygian cap, proper; the second Argent Justice with a sword, a balnce and
the tables of law at her feegt; the third Gules, a Virgin holding a plow and
surrounded by agricultural products, proper; the fourth Azure, a Virgin with
a hammer and anvil and some other industrial products, proper. Crown: A Royal Crown. On the seal of
the kingdom the arms are surrounded by the legend ROYAUME D’ARAUCANIE ET DE
PATAGONIE and a crown of
oak-leaves |
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The Kingdom
soon came to an end when Chilean troops set to conquer the territory and De
Tounens was taken prisoner and deported to France. In the next years he
several times tried in vain to take possession of his kingdom. A Chilean
campaign in 1882 resulted in the complete ‘pacifiaction’ of the Mapuche
Territory which was incorporated in the Republic in 1885. Nevertheless,
when De Tounens returned from France to Araucania in 1869, he took the
opportunity to order a steel crown but this has disappeared from Paris in
WWII. A replica was offered in 1986 to
the present Prince of Araucania, Philip (*1936). It consists of
forged steel and on the diadem is a stone from the Bio-Bio, the river at the
northern border of Araucania. The crown is crested with a stone from the
Garden of Ghetsemane in Jeruzalem. The crown is preserved, together with
other memorials of the kingdom in the Musée des
Rois d'Araucanie in Tourtoirac
(France)
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Also he established an order of knighthood, the Ordre Royal et Noble de la Couronne d'Acier (the Royal and Noble Order of the Steel Crown). This order was established I on 17 December, 1869 at Perquenco, then the capital of the Kingdom of Araucania and Patagonia. On 31 December , 1872, Orllie-Antoine I issued new statutes for the order and changed its name to the Royal Civil and Military order of the Steel Crown. It then became an order of merit.
The
crosses and collar of the Order of the Steel Crown |
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When, because
of these efforts, he ran out of money in 1871, he had coins minted in 1874 for
the nation under the name of Nouvelle France.
Since 1885 the
territory has been part of Chile after the occupation of the Araucanía. |
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Mapuche Nation |
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With the return
of democracy in Chile in 1990 Mapuche organizations renewed their claims on certain
territories leading to what is now called the Mapuche
conflict. A flag for the
Mapuche Nation was adopted in 1991. It is of three breadth blue, green and red between two shows the
Mapuche ideogram for the universe between two bordures of a Mapucho motif.
The colors and
charges symbolize: Blue, (Kalfü) symbolizes the universe and life, order and
abundance. White (Ayon-lig) symbolizes wisdom
& prosperity and purity, recovery and longevity Yellow (Choz) symbolizes the sun and
renovation Red (Kelü) symbolizes history and
force and power Green (Karü) symbolizes the Mapucho shaman, the
earth, wisdom, fertility and healing power Kultrún symbolizes universal wisdom depicted by
the four main points of the compass Gemil symbolizes the script and the art of manufacturing,
science and knowledge Flags for the
Mapuche communties of Araucania were adopted in 1992. |
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Huenteche |
Huileche |
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Lafquenche |
Nagche |
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Pehuenche |
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The emblems of the Regions are from the
Wikipedia site about the arms of Chile and its regions: http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escudo_de_Chile |
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© Hubert de Vries 2013-01-28
Heraldry of the World