Southern Cone Under the British

National Symbols

     In Auchmuty-Whitelocke World (AWW), many national symbols of Argentina and Uruguay are the same, but some are different.  Let’s start with those that are different.  One of those which are different for each of the two countries is in the flags.  The present-day flags of Argentina and Uruguay each use some element of blue and white, along with the Golden Sun (in our world, called the Sun of May), inspired by the Inca sun god Inti.  

     The Argentine flag, adopted in 1930, has a light blue background, with the Golden Sun at the centre and 16 stars around the Sun to represent the 16 provinces of Argentina.  Uruguay’s flag, adopted in 1951, has a dark-blue field occupying the right 60% of the flag, and a white field with the Golden Sun (albeit slightly different from the Argentine one) taking up the rest.  Before their respective flags were adopted, these countries used the Blue (and sometimes Red) British Ensign, with the Union Jack (British flag) on the canton, and the national coat of arms in the centre of the right half.  The Union Jack itself was also flown in those countries.  See the flags here.

     The coats of arms of Argentina and Uruguay both reflect the dual British and Spanish heritage of these countries.  They each have the top half of the Golden Sun on top of the coats of arms proper.  Argentina’s contain the three golden lions of England on the top left, the red lion of Scotland in the middle of the top, and the harp of Ireland on the top right.  Rounding out the coat of arms proper are the castle structure on the bottom left representing Castile, the purple lion in the middle of the bottom representing Leon, and the yellow and red stripes of Aragon on the bottom right.  Many editions of the coat of arms also show a horse flanking the left side and a rhea flanking the right side, along with the motto “Unitate Mari usque ad Mons” (“United from Sea to Mount”) on the bottom.  

     The Uruguayan coat of arms show the scales of justice on the top left and Montevideo Hill on the top right, just like in our world; on the bottom left is the Union Jack, and the old Spanish flag is on the bottom right.  Many editions also show a horse flanking the left side and a bull flanking the right side, along with the motto “Fortis et Celsus” (“Strong and Proud”) on the bottom.  The shields for the coats of arms are straight on top and curved on the bottom, and not oval like in our world; Argentina’s shield, but not Uruguay’s, is surrounded by laurels as well as by the animals flanking either side.

     The national anthems for the two countries are not nearly as militaristic and bombastic as in our world, and they gravitate more towards praising the land, like in the Canadian or Australian anthems.  Having both English and Spanish versions, these anthems have their countries’ names in their titles as well as in their lyrics.  They took over from “God Save the Queen” or “God Save the King” in the 1940s and 1950s.    

     Some symbols are the same for both countries, mostly to do with plants, animals, and the like.  For example, the national animal of Argentina is the puma (also known as the mountain lion or cougar), in both our world and AWW.  The Argentinian national bird is the rufous hornero (a kind of ovenbird); the Uruguayan one is the southern lapwing.  For both countries, the national flower is the ceibo (or the coral cockspur tree), and the Golden Sun is a prominent symbol of both places (much like the maple leaf in Canada).

Symbols on Money
  

     In many ways, the money (whether in the symbols or the amount for every coin and bill) is quite different in AWW Argentina and Uruguay than in their counterparts in our world.  Even the names are different; while as of 1970 Argentina has had the ‘peso’ in English as well as in Spanish, it used to have the ‘dollar’ in English, and the ‘pound’ before that, and Uruguay has always had the ‘dollar’ in English (and the ‘pound’ before that).  
 

     Argentine coins in circulation all have the Golden Sun on the obverse side, while the reverse side varies by the value of the coin.  In one-cent coins, which were withdrawn in 2001, it was the ceibo, while the rhea and puma (or cougar) appeared on 5- and 10-cent coins, respectively.  The rufous hornero is the symbol that is seen on the 25-cent coin, along with the ceibo since 2001.  Fifty-cent coins, which are not widely circulated, feature the coat of arms; and one-peso ($1) coins, which are bimetallic and feature yerba mate leaves, replaced the $1 bill in 1994.

     Banknotes in Argentina have had three major series since the inauguration of the Argentine peso/dollar in 1956.  In the first one, Juan de Garay (the re-founder of Buenos Aires) appeared in the obverse, and places or landmarks such as the Parliament Building, Iguazu Falls, or Ushwaya appeared in the reverse.  The 1970 series brought prominent prime ministers and Plate Colony governors as well as Juan de Garay into the obverse, while the reverse changed little from the previous series except for dropping political landmarks like the Parliament Building.  In the current series of banknotes, introduced in 1992, there continues to be a list of admired Argentine leaders in the obverse, but the reverse has replaced places with cultural practices, as follows:

	obverse	reverse	additional comments
$1	J. T. B. Beaumont	performance at Columbus Theatre	obsolete as of 1994
$2	Julius Rock	gaucho on horse
$5	William Lumley	yerba mate drinking ceremony
$10	Ronald Sanford-Penn	tango dancing
$20	Juan de Garay	asado barbeque
$50	Harold Irwin	game of pato
$100	Woodbine Parish	Wine Harvest Festival in Mendoza

     Coins belonging to the Uruguayan dollar all display the coat of arms on the obverse; just like with the Argentine coins, the reverse varies with the coin values.  The ceibo and southern lapwing were on the 1-cent and 5-cent coins, respectively – these coins were withdrawn, in respective order, in 1991 and 1998.  Ten-cent coins feature the armadillo, and 25-cent ones had the capybara before 1998 (but the southern lapwing since).  The not-so-often-used 50-cent coins feature the Golden Sun in the reverse.  As for one-dollar ($1) and $2 coins, which replaced bills of the same value in 1993 and 1994, respectively, the $1 coin has the rhea and ceibo (the latter since 1993), and the $2 bimetallic coin has the puma.

     Since the inauguration of the Uruguayan dollar in 1967, banknotes in Uruguay have had two major series.  In the first series, various famous personalities (such as prime ministers) appeared on the obverse, and various places (like Colonia del Sacramento or Montevideo Hill) were on the reverse.  The current series, initiated in 1993, has different obverses (for authors or artists) and reverses (for a piece of work of the respective personalities), as follows:

	obverse	reverse	additional comments
$2	Thomas Bellows	The Wagon	obsolete as of 1994
$5	Jack Townsend	Constructive Painting
$10	Juan Zorrilla de San Martin	La Leyenda Patria
$20	Edward Fairburn	Musical Allegory
$50	Peter Figmore	Antique Dance
$100	Juana Ibarbarou	La Palma de Juana

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