Last modified: 2007-06-09 by antónio martins
Keywords: police | pop | polícia de ordem pública | ao serviço da comunidade |
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In Cape Verde, the “common” police force (i.e., not
the judiciary nor the military nor other specialized police corps) is called
Polícia de Ordem Pública (POP), i.e., Public Order
Police.
Jorge Candeias, 29 Nov 2005
POP has a flag, perhaps better called a colour (in Portuguese:
estandarte), visible in
their site and not explained.
It is a very light blue flag with a narrow blue border around it, except in
the hoist side and a complex coat of arms centered. These arms comprehend a
central shield surrounded by 10 yellow stars disposed in two arcs of 5 (a
reference to the two groups of islands that compose the country, no doubt:
Barlavento and Sotavento), two branches of some plant I can’t identify
and a golden chain with 3 links. The shield has a chef charged with the name
of the force in black capital letters ("POLÍCIA DE ORDEM
PÚBLICA"). The field is blue, rayed from a central device
that is too complex for me to describe properly but includes a police 6-pointed
star charged by a white disc that features a pair of scales and a pair of
shaking hands holding what looks like a sword. The star seems to be flaming
and has rays. The base is charged by a scroll that features the motto of the
institution: "AO SERVIÇO DA COMUNIDADE" (at
the service of the community). The flag is fringed.
Jorge Candeias, 29 Nov 2005
I believe we can safely assume that it’s identical on both
sides because of the lack of any mention
to a difference in the obverse in the official site of the force and using
an analogy with the examples we know of drawings showing the reverse of
portuguese flags: they are always identical on both sides. I even have this
(unproved) theory that the reason why some portuguese illustrations show
the reverse and not the obverse, contrary to usual western practice, is to
show that the “other” side of the flag should show everything
properly, and not mirrored (given the fact that these flags invariably
include scrolls with inscriptions).
Jorge Candeias, 30 Nov 2005
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