50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CARNATION REVOLUTION

How a Flower Became the Symbol of Portugal’s Revolution

The backstory of how red carnations made their way to rifle barrels on April 25, 1974

5 min readApr 24, 2024

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Captain Salgueiro Maia on the left and an image of a woman with red carnations on her hair, a symbol of freedom, on April 25, 1974. — “Carnations of Hope and Memory” | Image by Daniel Arrhakis (CC BY-NC 2.0)

Throughout human history, revolutions have often ended in bloodshed. Still, fifty years ago, on April 25, 1974, Portugal changed…

Rui Alves

Written by Rui Alves

I'm a language teacher, linguist and published author (who joined the Army and worked for the EU). A publisher, digital ronin, musician and alchemist of sound.

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