The Galo da Madrugada official estandarte¹ was created in 1978, after the first parade of the bloco, by Mauro Freire, son of the president emeritus of the bloco, Enéas Freire. The idea was to highlight the mission of the club.
“After the first Galo parade, there was a meeting where I was asked to make the official estandarte. I imagined the significant portrait of our group and tried to convey it with the following symbols: a rooster singing on the rising sun; the masks referring to our masquerade club; the serpentines and the colorful confetti signify the dream and the joy of the carnival; and the musical notes our rhythm, the Frevo, “explained the creator.
¹ A Estandarte is a type of flag richly embroidered, sometimes in gold thread, and that does not lend itself to being hoisted but rather carried by the porta-estandarte, like “guides”.
The Porta-Estandarte
Estandarte ready, now the mission was to find the ideal carrier. After observing a certain young man who had won as an estandarte carrier in the Recife City Culture Foundation Contest for so many consecutive times, even receiving the title of hors concours, Enéas Freire, founder and Galo president until his death in 2008, made the invitation personally.
The invited was Fernando Zacarias who became the first and until now the only the Galo da Madrugada porta-estandarte. Hand-picked by Eneas to carry in his hands the imposing symbol of what would become the largest carnival group in the world.
“He saw a presentation from me, called me and said ‘you’re going to carry the Galo estandarte”. In that first year, we paraded at 4:00 a.m., in a group of 150 people, “recalled one of the main symbols of the bloco.
Posto ‘lifelong’
Since 1978 Zacarias has been a symbol of the community, not only in the Galo da Madrugada parade, but also in all the presentations made throughout the year and always with impeccable costumes: clothes, shoes, and wigs inspired in Louis 15, king of France in the 18th century.
New generations
From the age of six 06 years, Fernando Zacarias’ grandson, Vinicius Artur Zacarias, is the porta-estandarte of Pinto da Madrugada (children’s bloco of the club). The young man has been learning with his grandfather from an early age has accompanied Zacarias in the Galo da Madrugada parade in recent years, having inaugurated the latest estandarte of the bloco, which was released in 2015. While Artur’s time is still been prepared, Zacarias comes fulfilling its mission.
