THE SUN OF MAY

This sun is known as the SOL DE MAYO, May's sun, being the banner of the
May Revolution of 1810, with the end of the Viceroyalty of the Rio de la
Plata, which is Argentina nowadays.

This round sun, with a human face, and sun beams all around is a
representation of the Inca god Inti. Argentina, so, celebrates eternaly the
god Sun of the Incas.

The final design of the May Sun was created by a Peruvian from the
Andean city of Cusco, named Juan de Dios Rivera.

The Incas had had a big territory into Argentina, although the reasons of
such a curious election were related to Manuel Belgrano personal interest
on aborigine issues, and the transition to a Republican country of
Argentina, from its Spanish royal past.

PART 1

THE INCAS​

For the Incas, Inti, the god of the sun was the most important deity,
originally, although later they also believed in the god Viracocha, adoring
it, as a more global entity, with powers also over the earth, the water, and
the fire.

Inti, the god of the sun, was married to the godess of the Moon, Mama
Quilla.

By the Incas, Inti was adored as the creator of the world, although people
prayed to it for mundane favors.

For example, for the Incas Inti lent the energy, with which their land was
fed, for their crops.
The Coricancha, meaning the gold chambers, was the most important
temple of the Incas, located in Cusco. Its walls were all covered with thick
slabs of gold, and the Incas celebrated the daily reflection of the sun,
shining so within its stone chambers.

Nonetheless this kind of temples could be found all over the Inca empire,
as also, the Inca chieftains were believed, to have descended directly from
their god Inti.

PART 2

THE SPANIARDS​
In the sixteenth century, after the Viceroyalty of Peru was just instituted,
there was a chronicler named Juan de Santa Cruz Pachacuti Yamqui
Salcamaygua. He was born in Cusco, and wrote the book "Antiquities from
the kingdom of Peru".

In that book, he illustrated one particular big, gold slab, which survived
the Iberian conquistadors within the Inca temple of the Coricancha, in
Cusco.

That particular gold piece had an engraving, with Inca religious imagery.

Thereon, it was clearly distinguishable a sun like representation, which

was quite similar to the Sol de Mayo, of the flags of Uruguay and
Argentina.
Also about the sixteenth century, it was living the Peruvian Inca man
Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala, who did more illustrations, of the same gold
engraved sun, and of other religious ceremonies of the Incas, in which the
Inti sun was also quite similar to the Sol de Mayo, as it was designed
centuries later, in the inaugural Argentina.

Poma de Ayala particularly dedicated his life, in a series of magazines

portraying artistically a diversity of scenes of the life of the Inca
aborigines, during the Spanish conquering of the region.

There, Ayala took the trouble to draw the sun of the sky, just like the Incas
had depicted their Inti god, as a round face, with sun beams, alternately
straight and waving.

There's also the evidence, from Martin de Murua, who was a Spanish
religious man, who traveled in the 1850s, in the times of the Vicerroyalty
to live in Peru as a missionary, for a mission of training other religious
people.

Murua wrote the book General Story of Peru (Historia General del Peru), in
which he does an illustration, in which Pachacutec, the ruler of the Inca
Empire, is adoring Inti, the god of the sun, within the Coricancha temple.

All those illustrations were drawn during the sixtieth century.

 Part 3

Argentina

Juan de Dios Rivera Tupac Amaru (1760 - 1843) was born in Cusco, being
the son of mister Alonso de Rivera, a Spaniard, and of Juana de la Concha
Tupac Amaru, a surviving Inca princess, for which he was known in the city
of Buenos Aires, as the "Inca", and so Rivera was the cousin of Tupac
Amaru, the second, the only surviving Inca chieftain.

However, due to an Inca rebellion of his cousin, and because of the

possible threats against his own life, after living in Potosi, in 1780 Rivera
was forced to flee to the Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata, living for a while
in Cordoba, in Lujan, and finally then in the city of Buenos Aires.

In Buenos Aires, Rivera became a successful artisan, soon renowned

amongst the local Portenio high society, particularly because of sculpting
silver, and also sculpting and selling religious figurines.

Rivera's drawings also were featured, through the printing press of the
orphanage of Buenos Aires, getting acquainted with the people, who
helped there, with that, amongst whom Agustin Donado was in particular.

Also, Rivera had been an acquaintance of Manuel Belgrano, in those years,

since as Royal Consul of Buenos Aires, managing the local customs office,
Belgrano had ordered him for designing one of its official seals.

Rivera had had, so, an ample expirience working in official seals, already,
for which he in the end was selected for that task, about the May Sun.
In 1810 the Revolution of May started, for the independency of the
Provincias Unidas del Rio de la Plata.

Then, the Asamblea General Constituyente y soberana was organized. In a

session of 1812, the deputies of the new state held their first session.

In 1813, in one of the first decisions of that Asamblea General, the deputy
Agustin Donado, a local printer, was assigned for the task of designing the
seal of that national organism, particularly for replacing the Spanish royal
one. The simbol would be also coined into the new currency of the region
of the Rio de la Plata.

Then, Donado commended both tasks, to a personal acquaintance of him,

in the city of Buenos Aires, the artisan and metal scupltor Juan de Dios
Rivera, who was born in Cusco, as the son of an Inca princess, and for that
reason known as the "Inca".

There are historical documents, from Rivera's hand, comfirming his

contract with the newly Argentine state, and his participation in the
project, sculpting the seal of the "May Sun".

Rivera told in some personal letters, that the Asamblea paid him, for his
job.

Rivera then got inspiration from the French Revolution.

The French Jacobins had designed a shield for their revolution, and then
Juan de Dios Rivera used that it, making some changes.
Then, Rivera changed the rising sun of the French Revolution, atop of the
shield, instead for the Sun of May, of the Rio de la Plata, which was the
original design of the Inti god, as it had been adored by Incas, during their
South American Empire, in fact.

For that reason, the Inti sun of the Incas then was called also as the Sun of
May, representing the revolution of the Rio de la Plata, from May 25, 1810.

Most likely, Juan de Dios Rivera found inspiration in all the drawings
known, since the sixteenth century, since the similarities of all of them
with the Sun of May are quite clear, indeed.

It is evident, that Juan de Dios Rivera had known all those artistic
illustrations about the Incas, since having lived in his native Cusco,
whereas Rivera surely had also known the original, gold slab relic of the
Coricancha temple.

The final shield of the Republica Argentina has three parts: the seal, the
coat of arms, and the mantling.

The seal of the Argentine shield is the upper part, which indeed is the Sun
of May.

The mantling are the laurel leaves, representing the triumph.

Meanwhile, the coat of arms consists of two hands, holding each other,
while strongly holding a pole, with the red, Phrygian cap.

The Phrygian cap is an emblem of freedom, which was used by the freed
slaves in the old Rome.

However, there's a mistake of the era, since the real freedom cap is the
Pileus cap, which was used as a meaning of freedom since the old Greek
civilization, indeed, and later also in Rome.

During the French Revolution, the Phrygian cap was known the Pileus cap,
both with similar names. However, the Phrygian cap was used in the
Phrygia region of Turkey, which had nothing to do with freedom, actually.

Nonetheless, both the United States of America, USA, and South America
adopted the Phrygian cap, for representing the independence of all their
nations, across the American continent, being used in a spate of national
shields, so.
Anyhow, the Asamblea of 1813 used the new seal, handing the citizenship
to two foreigners, on March 12, 1813.

On that same March 12, the Asamblea officialized the seal of the "May
Sun".

The first coins of the May Sun were also coined in that same year, on a
Tuesday 13, being those gold and silver, coincidentally in Rivera's own city
of Potosi.

Also in 1813, Belgrano gave a flag to a school of Jujuy, with the same
shield and the May Sun, correspondingly, again.

Since that same year, across the Provincias Unidas, the state bureaus, the
military posts, the official banks, the diplomatic offices, the justice, the
schools, etcetera, all were forced into adopting the new shield of the
Asamblea, with the May Sun.

Anyhow, the Argentine flag was created by the diplomat and military man,
from the Rio de la Plata, Manuel Belgrano (1770 - 1820).

Indeed, Rivera also proposed to Belgrano, that the Sun of May may be
placed over the white stripe of the Argentine flag, and so it was instituted
for the definitive Argentine flag.

That May Sun is represented as a golden, round, human face, of a neutral

expression, from which beams are emitted, alternately straight and
waving, whereas that Sun of May consists of 32 sun beams, 16 straight,
and 16 waving ones.

With that flag design the Spaniards were finally defeated, in South
America.

Already in 1813, Manuel Belgrano had designed a flag, with the shield of
the Asamblea, with the May Sun onto it.

Nonetheless, before that during the revolution of May of 1810, Belgrano

had realized, that the Spanish royals were wearing a distinctive red badge.

Then, Manuel Belgrano for distinguishing decided creating his own badge,
for the Argentine patriots, with this one being of the cerulean and white
colors.

The white color supposedly was due to the color of the silver, after which
Argentina was originally named because of the latin word Argentum, after
the first Europeans had particularly expected to find such a precious
mineral in the region.

The light blue color may have been either due to the sky,or to the Rio de la
Plata waters.

However, there are other versions, about this.

An alternate version states, that the light blue color was picked after the
colors, of the Borbon house of Spain, while even another version
maintains, that it was the color of the the Inmaculada Concepcion Virgin.

Nonetheless, Belgrano was sent with his armies, into a military campaign
to Rosario.
There, using those same colors of the badge of May, light blue and white,
Belgrano raised the first flag of the Provincias Unidas del Rio de la Plata,
for the first time on May 27, 1812.

Four years later, after the independency had been consolidated, Jose de
San Martin proposed a monarchy imitating France.
San Martin wasn't decided yet for a full Republic for Argentina, because the
local people had been used to the Spanish Vicerroyalty system.

Thus, San Martin sought some kind of a transition, nevertheless in the end
a Republic would be established, later.

Accordingly, Manuel Belgrano also proposed then a monarchy of Incas

rulers, thus, in what was called the Inca Plan of 1816.

In this Plan of the Incas, the Inca Empire would be refurbished, through a
Democratic Kingdom, into Buenos Aires itself.

Belgrano actually had a background, of having been extensively studying

the history of the aborigines of South America.

In such an Inca plan, Juan Bautista Tupac Amaru would receive an

absolute power, as the half brother of the Inca chieftain Tupac Amaru, the
Second. So, he would have been the Inca ruler of the Provincias Unidas del
Rio de la Plata.

Indeed, Juan Bautista Tupac Amaru was even brought down to Buenos
Aires, but then the Tucuman Congress decided rejecting the whole idea,
and instead created a Republican and central state.

Part 4

Legacy

During the Independence wars of Peru, the English general Guillermo

Miller traveled to Peru, supporting the military campaigns of Independency
of Jose de San Martin.

From Tacna, Miller raised a new flag for Peru, with the Argentine Sun of
May, over a cerulean background.

Indeed, such a light blue flag was the first Peruvian flag, before the one,
created by San Martin, himself.

San Martin, for his part, created the first shield of Peru, also with the Sun
of May.

Meanwhile, Uruguay hadn't belonged to the Provincias Unidas del Rio de la

Plata, belonging instead to Brazil.

In 1825, Uruguay got separated from Brazil, joining instead Argentina.

Nonetheless, in 1828, Uruguay also separated from Argentina, and then

created their own flag.

For that, Uruguay rescued the Sun of May, also placing it in their national
shield.

In Argentina, the Sun of May consists of 32 sun beams, 16 straight, and 16

waving ones.

Instead, in Uruguay, it consists of 16 beams, 8 and 8.

Nowadays, the coins of Argentina also have the Sun on May, engraved onto
it, like in the first coin of Argentina, of 1813.

Later, other countries adopted the Sun of May, of the Rio de la Plata.