Chicano artist Ernest M. Saenz has designed and commemorated a flag to those noble persons that stood up in united resistance against racism and in defense of vulnerable world citizens on Saturday June 18, 2005 in the City of Alhambra, California.
The name Alhambra means “the red one”, referring to the mountain on which the Alhambra in Spain was built. On June 18th, that mountain was represented by the counter-demonstrators’ determination to oppose hostile forces in their community. At the center of this flag is the City of Alhambra’s municipal seal – a replica of an arch from the Alhambra in Spain. At the Alhambra in Spain there are two arches, one is called the Puerta de las Armas (Gate of Arms) and another Puerta de Justicia (Gate of Justice).
The Gate of Arms was the only gate connecting the Alhambra to Granada, symbolically to the outside world, and the Gate of Justice was where offenders of the divine being’s laws were chastised.
In the City of Alhambra, the SOSMM ventured through the Gate of Arms, and quickly found themselves at the Gate of Justice.
The colors of this Alhambra United Resistance flag are blue – representing freedom, white – purity of heart, and green – our mother earth. These colors reflect the ideals that the counter-demonstrators defended in Alhambra.
