How the right seized Brazil’s national symbols

Today is Brazilian Independence Day, and President Jair Bolsonaro has called on all of his voters to take to the streets, dressed in the colors of the national flag, to show their support for the Amazon rainforest. His opponents, meanwhile, have organized their own demonstrations, planning to wear black in protest of the government’s environmental policies.

While these are simply the latest episodes in a series of pro- and anti-government demonstrations called this year, the importance placed on colors this time around—Mr. Bolsonaro’s supporters in green and yellow, his opponents in black—represents a continuation of the appropriation of national symbols by the Brazilian right, and the abdication of these same icons by the left.

Images such as the Brazilian flag, the national football team jersey, and green-and-yellow clothing in general, have become inextricably linked with the country’s right—particularly Jair Bolsonaro.

This is a recent phenomenon in Brazil, dating back to the mass street demonstrations of 2013, which themselves began as protests against rising public transport fares in São Paulo. The size of these rallies and the general anger directed at the entire political system saw flags and other symbols of political parties weeded out of the protests.