Podbit · The Rest Is History
Brazil's flag carries the motto 'Ordem e Progresso' — Order and Progress — drawn from French positivist philosopher Auguste Comte. In the late 19th century, Latin America was obsessed with positivism. The irony: order and progress were the last things Brazil actually achieved in the 20th century.
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At 1:01:40 · chapter starts 58:30
The lyrics that Brazilians sing today are generic and flowery — 'Oh beloved, idolised homeland, hail, hail, adored land' — but Dominic finds three specific references that reward unpacking. [1] — Dominic Sandbrook "Brazil's 1922 World Expo — celebrating a century of independence with 3 million visitors in Rio — was the catalyst that finally forced the …" 55:55 The chorus references the 'placid shores of the Ipiranga' where Pedro, gripped by diarrhea, shouted 'Independence or death' in 1822. The anthem's image of a 'cross blazing in the sky' refers not to Christianity but to the Southern Cross constellation, first observed and sketched by Portuguese astronomer João Faras on Cabral's 1500 voyage; the cruzeiro became so central to Brazilian identity that the country named four different 20th-century currencies after it, and a football club called Cruzeiro produced players including Tostão, Jairzinho, and the original Ronaldo. The flag reference in the anthem ties back to a flag whose green and yellow come from the Braganza and Habsburg dynasties, whose blue circle originally showed an astrolabe but was changed to stars when the Portuguese were expelled, [2] — Dominic Sandbrook "Brazil's flag carries the motto 'Ordem e Progresso' — Order and Progress — drawn from French positivist philosopher Auguste Comte. In the l…" 1:01:40 and whose motto 'Ordem e Progresso' is lifted directly from Auguste Comte — whose ideals of order and progress, Dominic drily observes, were not conspicuously achieved in 20th-century Brazil.
The motto 'Ordem e Progresso' on Brazil's flag is drawn from French positivist philosopher Auguste Comte's maxim: 'Love as a principle, order as a basis, progress as your goal.'
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