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Ukrainian flag colors on VdlP guide markers?

Fuertebrazos

Member
Time of past OR future Camino
2019
Most of the little concrete posts along the Andalusian parts of the VldP, in addition to an arrow pointing the way, have a yellow and blue rectangle on the front. Those are the colors of the Ukrainian flag.

When I first saw these, I thought "Isn't it great that Spain is showing solidarity with the Ukrainian fighters?"

But then, realistically, I thought that the war hasn't been going on that long, so the logistics of changing the markers would be challenging. And expensive. And why show solidarity by pasting colors along a route that has nothing to do with the conflict?

Maybe those colors have always been there, or maybe they don't have anything to do with Ukraine. Can someone enlighten me?
 
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The colour scheme predates the Ukraine war. Just a coincidence. I walked the VdlP for the second time early this year. The yellow and blue markers are for two different local trails which happen to overlap for a long section. I can't recall exactly what they signify. There are places where they diverge and you will find the yellow and blue flashes separately.
 
Bradypus said:
The yellow and blue markers are for two different local trails which happen to overlap for a long section. I can't recall exactly what they signify.
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This?
(Click to enlarge)

Funnily enough, the website identifies the colours as amarillo and verde, i.e. yellow and green. To me it does look more like blue or turquoise.
 
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Fuertebrazos said:
maybe they don't have anything to do with Ukraine.
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Yes. Blue and yellow have been widely used for Camino signs on many routes, for years. Look at the forum logo, for example.

Bradypus said:
Just the right height to use as a comfy seat where there was no other seat for miles!
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Heading off topic here, but yes, one's standard of suitable seats must be flexible on the VDLP. I remember a few years ago, a question from a nursing mother who wanted to walk the VDLP with her partner and baby only a few months old. She felt that since the baby was still exclusively breastfed, they wouldn't have the hassles of getting appropriate food. I didn't want to be a naysayer, but had to tell her that it might be difficult to find places to sit every few hours, especially on rainy days!
 
Kathar1na said:
Funnily enough, the website identifies the colours as amarillo and verde, i.e. yellow and green. To me it does look more like blue or turquoise.
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The distinction between 'blue' and 'green' isn't always very clear cut. I live in Wales and in Welsh grass is usually described as being 'glas' which in more general usage means blue!
 
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Hi @Fuertebrazos - I could be recalling incorrectly but I think one of my VDLP guidebooks indicated that the yellow and what looked to be a more turquoise colour on the concrete block is a marker that the pilgrim is on a Roman road.

Here’s an example - I took this photo on the very long Roman road to Torremejia.



Cheers from Oz -

Jenny
 
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I read a sign somewhere on the route that explained (in Spanish) that the yellow indicates the Camino de Santiago and the blue indicates the Roman road. The two together and you are on both!
 
Bradypus said:
The distinction between 'blue' and 'green' isn't always very clear cut. I live in Wales and in Welsh grass is usually described as being 'glas' which in more general usage means blue!
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In Ireland and our Irish language, 'glas' translates to green.
 
PilgrimJames said:
In Ireland and our Irish language, 'glas' translates to green.
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I am not a Welsh speaker but my wife is quite fluent in the language. From what I can gather in modern Welsh 'glas' is normally blue and green is usually translated as 'gwyrdd'. But historically the distinction between the two was not so clear cut and 'glas' was used to describe the greens found in nature such as leaves and grass but also the colour of the sky. Very confusing!


How to Say "Green" in Welsh - We Learn Welsh

The first translation most Welsh to English dictionaries offer for the word green in Welsh is gwyrdd which was borrowed from the Latin viridis. gwyrdd green Following feminine nouns, gwyrdd (which is masculine) becomes the feminine (g)werdd* and after plurals, gwyrddion. (g)werdd green...
welearnwelsh.com
 
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I eventually discovered that the blue/turquoise indicates the Roman Via and the yellow indicates that the route is open. So sometimes you get both and sometimes one or the other.
 

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That's right. The yellow are the Camino and the blue/green are the original Roman Via de la Plata - they occasionally diverge and join up again. Seems like a long time since I walked that Extremadura section
 
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