A connection can be drawn from the gypsy presence in Flanders and the origin of the word “flamenco” as used to reference the style of song and dance mainly practiced by gypsies. Once a gypsy had served in the army he was exempt from the restrictive legislation that had previously applied to him, among other benefits. Enrolling in the military allowed these men, and the communities from whence they came, to benefit from considerable rewards on their return from Flanders. Moreover, in Spain, the gypsies were greatly marginalised by the law.
Their organisational abilities and hierarchical group structures, austere way of life and toughness, familiarity with unfavourable weather and excellent horsemanship were highly valued by Spanish military officals. They turned out to be indispensable on the battlefield. “Anatomy of History: Spanish Gypsies in the Army of Flanders” explains how this group of people belonging to Spanish society found themselves in the military. Many Spanish gypsies joined the army and travelled to fight with Spanish crown’s Army of Flanders. At this time, the Spanish monarchy waged war on its northern European subjects. In the sixteenth century, the term “flamengo” was used as a differentiating term and to highlight the hegemony of the southern provinces of the Netherlands (a region that was under Spanish rule at the time) over northern Holland. The “flamenco” of Flanders, the Netherlands, is known in English as Flemish. And 4) last but not least, “flamenco” describes a manifestation of southern Spanish culture or its interpreter, and is associated mainly with gypsy society. 3) A specific period in the history of art dating from the fifteenth to the seventeenth centuries. 2) Someone with some sort of relation to or connection with Flanders, i.e. According to the official Spanish Dictionary “Flamenco, -ca” as an adjective, comes from the Dutch language and refers to 1) a native of Flanders, a northern region of Europe. It is interesting to consider the history of this etymological slip. And although official linguistic institutions attempt to police the use of language, nowadays a major part of the English-speaking world associates “flamingo” to the flamenco art world. Words are born, they change, they are used, forgotten and they disappear. There are, however, many English speakers who do use the word “flamenco” correctly. Despite the fact that the word “flamenco” exists to refer to the art form, it is often incorrectly substituted with the word “flamingo,” probably due to an issue with pronunciation. In English, however, the word “flamingo” is used to refer to the bird. In Spanish the word “flamingo” does not exist.
In Spanish, “flamenco” is mainly associated to two things: a bird and an artistic manifestation of culture. “Flamingo” and “Flamenco” seem to get confused with each other and both seem to imply the same thing. It cannot be helped that many English speakers get it wrong when trying to pronounce a Spanish word, especially if said word refers to or describes something that does not even exists in Anglo-Saxon culture. Two words, two languages and two spellings.
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