Although we still have more than 160 days to go for 2009 Rio Carnival, backstage parade negotiations are at full speed. Didn’t understand? Let me explain you: Carnival in Rio has several activities throughout the year, but some of its highlights before the official Carnival Parade, are the samba school theme definition and drum queen contests. Both of these activities are organized by Rio´s Samba Schools, between carnival ´s official end and the parade in the following year.

Over the last years, the Rio Carnival has become more and more professional, when it comes to the grand parade at Rio´s sambadrome. Samba-Schools today hire a full range of professionals, from musical directors to drum queens that make sure their parade shines in a glittering harmony. These artists specialized themselves in what is known to be the worlds largest and most magical live show - the Carnival Parade in Rio. Today, just like soccer or basketball players, these professionals became extremely precious assets to a Samba-School in Rio. Some of these professions include float engineers, stylists, hairdressing artists, artisans, drum queens, flag bearers, costume designers, musicians, and general managers. In the past, most professionals were linked to a specific samba school or community.

Today it is not rare to see an elite stylist being hired by a major Samba School, and being paid with big money. Samba schools sometimes receive hard cash with grants and sponsors, which makes all of these negotiations possible. Last month for example, one of the major Samba Schools in Rio called Beija-Flor announced its possible partnership for the 2009 Rio Carnival with Anglo-Dutch consumer product giant Unilever.

Below, we see the picture of Ellen Cardoso, a.k.a. “Mulher Moranguinho” or “Strawberry Woman” getting ready to become the next Rio Carnival Drum Queen.



For this year, a series of negotiations are already taking place. In the beginning of the year, Max Lopes, one of the greatest Rio de Janeiro carnival directors was announced as the new general Carnival style artist for Porto da Pedra Samba School. Another recent negotiation was the hiring of Roberto Szaniecki by the traditonal Mangueira Samba School, as carnival art director.

Below, Ellen Cardoso being crowned at Paraiso do Tuiuti:



Aside from what the carnival community calls "technical posts", many of the Samba-Schools concentrate their efforts in trying to find a high flying celebrity for the Drum Queen position. This is notoriously one of flashiest positions within a Samba School. Please read my post in May to understand how Drum Queens are selected.

Since the end of the 2008 carnival, several new Drum Queens were announced as "possible candidates" for traditional Samba Schools like Viradouro, Salgueiro, and Porto da Pedra Samba School. Some Samba School presidents use this media frenzy and mystery to enhance and promote their Samba School. For now, we have a confirmation of the Drum Queen post for Salgueiro Samba School, which will be dancer and model Viviane Araújo. Also, Thatiana Pagung, carnival blogger and one of the most famous Drum Queens in Rio, was already confirmed as Drum Queen for Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel Samba School.

Below, Drum Queen Viviane Araújo displays the Salgueiro Samba School Flag!



In samba school Porto da Pedra though, we are watching a tough competition with several contenders. At least five different Rio muses are being considered by the samba school´s presidency, including the daughter of the legendary "Girl of Ipanema", Ticiane Pinheiro.

Other candidates for Porto da Pedra Samba School Drum Queen post are Iris Stefanelli - model and TV show presenter; Luciana Picorelli - model, Andressa Soares a.k.a. “Garota Melancia” (Watermellon Girl), and recent Brazil dance muse "Mulher Moranguinho - Ellen Cardoso", or Strawberry Woman. As I was about to publish this post, I read in the news that possibly the “Apple Woman” or “Mulher Maçã” became a new contender for this dispute as well. This fruit list is becoming endless…It looks like we will be having salad fruit at the 2009 Rio de Janeiro Carnival Samba Parade in 2009 Rio Carnival. Not bad!




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Yesterday, September 7th, Brazil celebrated the 186th anniversary of its independence day. Paying homage to the Brazilian culture, Belavista-Rio decided to briefly describe the origins, history, symbolism and pantone of the Official Brazil Flag. The flag of Brazil has a green field on which a large yellow rhombus is centered. A blue circle is placed within the rhombus, with white stars of five different sizes and a curved white band running through it. The motto “Ordem e Progresso” ("Order and Progress") is inscribed in capital letters (of the same shade of green as the field) inside the band. It is one of the few national flags that don’t have the generally blood-and-war-related colors red or black in any part of their composition.

The modern flag was officially adopted on November 19, 1889. The concept was the work of Raimundo Teixeira Mendes, with the collaboration of Miguel Lemos and Manuel Pereira Reis. The design was executed by Décio Vilares. The current national flag and ensign maintains the same design with some minor changes.

History of the Brazilian Flag: Upon the proclamation of the First Republic, one of the leading figures in the process, lawyer and recently-appointed Minister of Finances and Taxation Ruy Barbosa, proposed a design for the national flag that was strongly inspired by the flag of the United States. This flag was used only for 4 days beginning November 15, 1889. See the image of this version of the Brazilian Flag at Belavista-Rio Blog.




On November 19, 1889 the "Father of the Republic" and an acting president, field marshal Deodoro da Fonseca, vetoed the design, claiming that it was too much of a copy of another country's flag. Fonseca, who had been a royalist all his life and only led the coup that resulted in the proclamation of the Republic because he felt that the Emperor's actions were putting the country's stability in jeopardy, then suggested that the new Republican Flag should resemble the Imperial Flag. The decision was then made to replace only the royal crest with a new design (eventually decided to be the blue globe with the stars and the positivist motto). The objective in doing so was to reassert the continuity of the national unity during the transition from a Constitutional Monarchy to the Republican model. Raimundo Teixeira Mendes' design was presented to president Fonseca and promptly accepted.

Brazil's current flag was inspired by the flag of the former Brazilian Empire. On the imperial flag, the green represented the Imperial House of Braganza of Pedro I, the first Emperor of Brazil, and the yellow represented the Habsburg Imperial Family of Empress Leopoldina, Pedro I's first wife. Thus, green and yellow are the colours of the Families of origin of the first imperial couple, founders of the Brazilian monarchy. The centre of the old imperial flag bore the Imperial Coat of Arms. See the image of this version of the Brazilian Flag at Belavista-Rio Blog.



On the modern republican flag, the green background represents the forests, the yellow rhombus stands for the mineral wealth, and the blue circle, which replaced the coat of arms of the original flag, depicts the sky over Rio-de-Janeiro on the morning of November 15, 1889 – the day the Republic of Brazil was declared.

It is shown as seen from outside of the celestial sphere (i.e. the view is mirrored).

The stars, whose positions in the flag reflect the sky above Rio-de-Janeiro on November 15, 1889, represent the union's member-states - each star representing a specific state (which is not the case of the stars in the flag of the United States). The number of stars changes with the creation of new states and, since the early days of the republic, has risen from an original 21 stars to the current 27, standing for the 26 states and the Federal District.

The star that represents the Federal District is Sigma Octantis, a star whose position near the south celestial pole makes it visible across almost the whole country, all year round. In addition, given its polar position, all the other stars depicted on the flag trace appear to rotate around Sigma Octantis. Choosing this star to represent Brazil's capital is therefore particularly apt (although it is a much fainter star than any of the others).

The motto Ordem e Progresso ("Order and Progress") is inspired by Auguste Comte's motto of positivism: “L’amour pour principe et l’ordre pour base; le progrès pour” but ("Love as a principle and order as the basis; progress as the goal"). It was inserted because several of the people involved in the military coup d'état that deposed the monarchy and proclaimed Brazil a republic were followers of the ideas of Comte's thought.

Stars on the Brazilian Flag: The flag of Brazil contains 27 stars. The constellation of the Southern Cross is on the meridian. To the south of it is Polaris Australis (Sigma Octantis, numbered 7), representing the Federal District. The motto appears on a band roughly coincident with the ecliptic. A single star lies above the band, representing the large northern state of Para, which straddles the Equator.



Regarding the pantone for the Brazil flag, among official sites, there are a couple that give Pantone and/or CMYK values for the "mark" of the Federal Government, used on publications and websites, stating that the colors are to be the same as those used in the national flag. These sources do not agree completely. Belavista-Rio then decided to follow the Presidency for the Pantones of the Brazilian Flag:


Green: PMS 355 and CMYK 100-0-100-0
Yellow: PMS Yellow and CMYK 0-10-100-0
Blue: PMS 280 and CMYK 100-70-0-20

We hope our readers were able to grasp a little bit more of the culture and history of Brazil. Please download the Official Brazil Flag image< at your free will and display the Brazilian flag in your office and home!