^{This page is part of © FOTW Flags Of The World website}

Worker's Party of Socialist Unity (Portugal)

Partido Operário de Unidade Socialista, POUS

[Worker's Party of Socialist Unity (Portugal)]

2:3 image by Jorge Candeias, 28 Feb 2005

The Partido Operário de Unidade Socialista (POUS - Worker's Party of Socialist Unity) is a very small far left political party that never managed to elect people to the parliament or, as far as I know, any other institution in Portugal (local and regional governments and assemblies). In this last election, they gathered less than 6 000 votes and came in penultimate place. They have a site at http://pous.no.sapo.pt/ and there they show their symbol: a closed fist (symbol of the portuguese socialist party, a typical social-democratic party) and a 4, symbol of the 4th International, the Trotskistss. An interesting combination. The site is practically only a mailbox, but shows as background image a photo of what I assume to be the real flag of the party: red with the symbol and sigla, centred. I'll GIF and post this flag later on.
Source: I saw this flag during the recent electoral campaign in Portugal, in a news report about the campaign of this small party.
What I saw on TV, however, was very different: a simple red cloth with a big white sigla over all. This is what I'm sending along.
Jorge Candeias, 28 Feb 2005

2:3 image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 3 Apr 2007

POUS is the smallest of all "real" Portuguese political parties, i.e. the one with less votes among those who regularly attend to elections. (There are parties with even less votes, but their electoral participation is erratic.)
It is the Portuguese affiliate of the 4th Socialist International of 1993, of Trotskist persuasion.
It uses in its rallys and propaganda material non-descript red flags, but a red cloth with the paty emblem apliqued on it (a flag?, or a piece of drapery?) is the background of < http://pous4.no.sapo.pt/ > the party's home page.
The party emblem shows a fist (proper, caucasoid carnation) superimposed on a large black "4", above and behind the "U" of "POUS" in large white capitals (when depicted on white background the letters are black and the "4" is red). There is no hammer and sickle but a fist instead probably because of the anti-soviet origins of the party, which was created in 1976 by P.S. dissidents.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 3 Apr 2007