Texts and neckerchiefs: federalism representations in the Rio-Grandense Republic (1836-1845)

Abstract

The Farrapos War was the longest rebellion of the regency period, and for almost ten years the rebels of Rio Grande do Sul sought to legitimate their movement against the Brazilian Empire. In this sense, the liberal, republican and federalist ideas, which have spread out from the May Revolution in the Prata River, gained support between some of the leaders of the Rio-Grandense Republic. Aware that the press could be used as an efficient mean of propaganda, the insurrect government successively edited its official periodicals. Besides these texts, there was also the influence of the symbols diffused in the countries of the Prata, specially the color red. Incorporated into the flag of the Rio-Grandense Republic, along with the green and yellow colors from the imperial banner, the tricolor symbol was made compulsory, following the model created by Rosas in the Argentine Confederation. The use of red neckerchiefs by the mob-filled troops was easier and this habit went straight into the nineteenth century.