Brontë

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Three English novelists, daughters of a Yorkshire parson. Charlotte Brontë (1816–1855), notably with Jane Eyre (1847) and Villette (1853), reshaped autobiographical material into vivid narrative. Emily Brontë (1818–1848) in Wuthering Heights (1847) expressed the intensity and nature mysticism which also pervades her poetry (Poems, 1846). The more modest talent of Anne Brontë (1820–1849) produced Agnes Grey (1847) and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848).

The Brontës were brought up by an aunt in their father's rectory (now a museum) at Haworth in Yorkshire. In 1846 the sisters published a volume of poems under the pen-names Currer (Charlotte), Ellis (Emily), and Acton (Anne) Bell. In 1847 (using the same names), they published the novels Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and Agnes Grey. During 1848–49 Emily, Anne, and their brother Patrick Branwell (1817–1848) all died of tuberculosis, aided in Branwell's case by alcohol and opium addiction; his portrait of the sisters survives. Charlotte died during pregnancy in 1855. The sisters share a memorial in Westminster Abbey, London.

Green expresses hope. White symbolizes peace. It is said that the saltire may have been based on the former flag of Belgian airline, Sabena. Red represents the blood shed in the struggle for independence. Effective date: 27 September 1982. >>