Miranda's conversation with Goethe

in Weimar (1785)
jwr47

Miranda's conversation with Goethe in Weimar (1785)1

Francisco de Miranda was the person who originally created the common yellow, blue and red flag
of Gran Colombia that Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela, with slight variations, share today.
Miranda gave at least two sources of inspiration for his flag. In a letter written to Count Simon
Romanovich Woronzoff (Vorontsov) in 1792, Miranda stated that the colours were based on a
theory of primary colours given to him by the German writer and philosopher Johann Wolfgang von
Goethe. Miranda described at a late-night conversation which he had with Goethe at a party in
Weimar during the winter of 1785.
Miranda's journey has been documented in details2:
December 15, 1784 Miranda left the port of Boston in the merchant frigate Neptuno at
five p.m. for London and after a trip that required about 56 days arrived in England on
February 10, 1785.
The Venezuelan and his friend went on 10 August 1785 a Dutch port (Hellevoetsluis).
Passed through regions of present Belgium, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Poland,
moving to Greek and Italian lands, where he remained for over a year, and visit the
court of Catherine II(Catherine the Great), moved at that time from Moscow to Kiev,
(current Ukraine).
In Germany Miranda might have met Goethe around the end of 1785.
Fascinated with Miranda's account of his exploits in the United States Revolutionary War and his
travels throughout the Americas and Europe, Goethe told him that, "Your destiny is to create in your
land a place where primary colours are not distorted. He proceeded to clarify what he meant:
First he explained to me the way the iris transforms light into the three primary colours
[] then he proved to me why yellow is the most warm, noble and closest to [white]
light; why blue is that mix of excitement and serenity, a distance that evokes shadows;
and why red is the exaltation of yellow and blue, the synthesis, the vanishing of light
into shadow.
It is not that the world is made of yellows, blues and reds; it is that in this manner, as if
in an infinite combination of these three colours, we human beings see it. [] A country
[Goethe concluded] starts out from a name and a flag, and it then becomes them, just as
a man fulfils his destiny.
After Miranda later designed his flag based on this conversation, he happily recalled seeing a fresco
by Lazzaro Tavarone in the Palazzo Belimbau in Genoa that depicted Christopher Columbus
unfurling a similar-coloured flag in Veragua during his fourth voyage.
In his military diary, Miranda gave another possible source of inspiration: the yellow, blue and red
standard of the Burger Guard (Brgerwache) of Hamburg, which he also saw during his travels in
Germany.
1 Flag of Colombia
2 Francisco de Miranda - In Europe: England, Prussia, Turkey and Russia (17851790)

In the 1801 plan for an army to liberate Spanish America, which he submitted unsuccessfully to the
British cabinet, Miranda requested the materials for "ten flags, whose colours shall be red, yellow
and blue, in three zones."[4] However, the first flag was not raised until March 12, 1806, in Jacmel,
Haiti, during his ill-fated expedition to Venezuela.

Comparing Miranda's recordings to Goethe's diary

Comparing Miranda's recordings to Goethe's diary there is a problem in synchronizing the historical
details. In 1785 Goethe seems to have no experience in studying optics and color theory or
experimenting with optics and/or colors.
Goethe's earliest reference to color theory has been found in 1789, in which the (refractive) power
to generate colors has been mentioned in a small calender3.
In a letter dated 14th of November 1785 however the physical instruments of the Duke of Gotha
have been mentioned4. These instruments also involved optical tools.
Strange as it may seem Goethe is said to have abhorred calculations and measurements. Of course
his color theory initially may have been based on earlier experiences and observations. Especially
the primary colors yellow and blue are to be considered as elementary symbols, which are playing a
role in the loosely autobiographical novel The Sorrows of Young Werther (German: Die Leiden
des jungen Werthers) which had been written in six weeks of intensive writing during January
March 1774.
In Goethe's color theory (published 1909/1910) yellow represented the light, blue the shadows and
red the transition phase between light and shadow. Yellow and blue therefore are antipodes and red
as a color represents the synthesis of light and shadow5.

Goethe's Color System

In contrast to Newton's physical analysis Goethe based his theory on two basic colors yellow and
blue, which had been mentioned in the original German text The Sorrows of Young Werther.
The colors yellow and blue have been omitted in the English translation. I added these details
wearing boots, in a blue tailcoat and a yellow waistcoat in highlighted yellow:
He was found lying on his back near the window. He was in full-dress costume 6,
wearing boots, in a blue tailcoat and a yellow waistcoat.
Er lag gegen das Fenster entkrftet auf dem Rcken, war in vlliger Kleidung,
gestiefelt, im blauen Frack mit gelber Weste7.

3 Source: Goethes Freunde in Gotha und Weimar by Sigrid Damm (2014) (see Appendix in (German) Goethes
Grundfarben Gelb Und Blau)
4 Source: Goethes Freunde in Gotha und Weimar by Sigrid Damm (2014) (see Appendix in (German) Goethes
Grundfarben Gelb Und Blau)
5 Goethes Farbenlehre Landesakademie fr Fortbildung und Personalentwicklung an Schulen (Esslingen) Copyright : Creative Commons 3.0 Lizenz Deutschland:
Goethes Farbtheorie baut auf einem elementaren, polaren Gegensatz von Hell und Dunkel auf. Er erklrt
Farben als Grenzphnomene zwischen Licht und Finsternis. Gelb liegt an der Grenze zur Helligkeit
("zunchst am Licht") und Blau an der Grenze zum Dunkeln ("zunchst an der Finsternis").
6 Source The Sorrows of Young Werther at Project Gutenberg Translated by R.D. Boylan, Edited by Nathen Haskell
Dole
7 source (Gutenberger Projekt): Die Leiden des jungen Werthers (1774)

The wallpaper's color in the Gotha Palace

Prince August of Gotha had equipped his palace with wallpapers colored blue, red and yellow. This
color combination had been referenced in The Sorrows of Young Werther as well:
There are flowers out there, yellow, blue, and red; and that centaury has a very pretty
blossom: but I can find none of them.8"

The Knights' Table

From 25th May - 11th September 1772 Goethe is working as an assistant at the Reichskammergericht
in Wetzlar, where he attends the meetings of a freemason-like organization9. Freemasons are known
for their color symbolism.

Quotations from The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774)

The word yellow is missing in the English translation. I added the yellow highlighted corrections
to match the quotation to the original manuscript:
SEPTEMBER 6.
It cost me much to part with the blue coat which I wore the first time I danced with
Charlotte. But I could not possibly wear it any longer. But I have ordered a new one,
precisely similar, even to the collar and sleeves, as well as a new yellow waistcoat and
pantaloons.
But it does not produce the same effect upon me. I know not how it is, but I hope in
time I shall like it better. 10
NOVEMBER 30.
There are flowers out there, yellow, blue, and red; and that centaury has a very pretty
blossom: but I can find none of them.11"
DEZEMBER 20.
He was found lying on his back near the window. He was in full-dress costume 12,
wearing boots, in a blue tailcoat and a yellow waistcoat.

8 .Da hauen sind auch immer Blumen, gelbe und blaue und rote, und das Tausendgldenkraut hat ein schnes
Blmchen. Quelle (Gutenberger Projekt): Die Leiden des jungen Werthers (1774)
9 Aus meinem Leben. Dichtung und Wahrheit
10 Es hat schwer gehalten, bis ich mich entschlo, meinen blauen einfachen Frack, in dem ich mit Lotten zum
erstenmale tanzte, abzulegen, er ward aber zuletzt gar unscheinbar. Auch habe ich mir einen machen lassen ganz wie
den vorigen, Kragen und Aufschlag, und auch wieder so gelbe Weste und Beinkleider dazu. Ganz will es doch die
Wirkung nicht tun. Ich wei nicht ich denke, mit der Zeit soll mir der auch lieber werden.
11 .Da hauen sind auch immer Blumen, gelbe und blaue und rote, und das Tausendgldenkraut hat ein schnes
Blmchen. Quelle (Gutenberger Projekt): Die Leiden des jungen Werthers (1774)
12 Source The Sorrows of Young Werther at Project Gutenberg Translated by R.D. Boylan, Edited by Nathen Haskell
Dole

The Freemason Goethe13

Goethe had been initiated in the Masonic Lodge Amalia, at Weimar (where he lived most of his life
and where he died) on the eve of the Feast of St. John the Baptist, in 1780, well before he might
have met Miranda14. Goethe also wrote a couple of Masonic Poems The Masonic Lodge and A
Symbol (1827), but his Freemason activity has been interrupted for many years15.
With his last breath, Goethe cried the immortal phrase More Light! (22. March 1832).

Summary
In a letter dated 1792 Francisco de Miranda describes count Simon Romanovich Woronzoff16 his
motivations for using the colors yellow, blue and red in the flag design for the Flag of Colombia.
The conversation has been dated in the wintertime 1785 in Weimar, Germany.
In 1785 Goethe had not recorded any notes to studying colors and optics. A letter dated 14 th of
November 1785 merely refers to the physical instruments of the duke of Gotha. The colors yellow
and blue however play a role in the novel The Sorrows of Young Werther (written and published
1774).
If Miranda really had discussed and interpreted Goethe's explanation of his color theory in the
wintertime of 1785 Goethe's interpretation of primary color symbolism for blue and yellow must
have been initiated earlier, probably already at or before the publication date of The Sorrows of
Young Werther.

13
14
15
16

Goethe Freemason - Ps Review Of Freemasonry

Miranda's Conversation With Goethe in Weimar (1785)
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Vorontsov