Blandengues

In their origins, the Blandengues were men of the land—gauchos, mestizos, and Indigenous horsemen—who patrolled the untamed frontier of the Banda Oriental. They wore practicality before ornament. They survived through skill and endurance. Their loyalty was not owed to distant crowns, but to the shared experience of life in the open.

Among them rode José Gervasio Artigas, shaped by the frontier: an authority rooted in the land and a deep respect for rural people. The Blandengues were his military school, from which emerged the leader who would found federalism and the Oriental nation, leading these men in the struggle for independence. His ethic and vision echo the logic of the Blandengues: dignity is born from the land; power grows from those who inhabit it.