Last modified: 2009-11-21 by eugene ipavec
Keywords: san roque | cadiz | gibraltar | castle (red) | key (gold) | crown: royal (open) |
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![[Municipality of San Roque (Cádiz Province, Andalusia, Spain)]](../images/e/es-ca-sr.gif)
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image by WP User:MiguelAngel fotografo, modified by Ivan Sache, 07 Jul 2009
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The municipality of San Roque (28,653 inhabitants; 14,688 ha) is located 110 km south-east of Cádiz, a few kilometers north of Gibraltar.
"La Muy Noble y Más Leal Ciudad de San Roque, donde reside la de Gibraltar" (The very noble and most loyal town of San Roque, the place of the town of Gibraltar) was founded in 1706, officializing the settlement established by the Spanish inhabitants of Gibraltar on 4 August 1704, during the War of Spanish Succession. After the seizure of Gibraltar by the Anglo-Dutch fleet commanded by Admiral Rooke, the British flag was hoisted over the town; some 5,000 Spaniards refused to acknowledge the new power and moved together to the neighbouring hill surmounted by the old San Roch Hermitage, built in 1508. The exiles brought with them as much of their heritage as possible, including the "Pendón de Gibraltar" (see below) and the Letters Patented signed in 1502 that granted a coat of arms to the town of Gibraltar, as well as most of the civil and religious archives ot the town. The historical, white town of San Roque was proclaimed an "artistic- historical monumental group" in 1975; its bullring, built in 1853, is the second oldest in the Province of Cádiz and among the oldest ones in Andalusia.
The official name of the town does not seem to be "Ciudad de Gibraltar en el Campo de San Roque" but "Ciudad de San Roque, donde reside la de Gibraltar.
Source: Municipal website
Ivan Sache, 07 Jul 2009
In Diccionario Enciclopédico Everest 40, Ed. Everest, Spain 1970, I saw a photo of the Gibraltar Standard, certain kind of banner or flag preserved in a museum in Gibraltar (?) showing the castle and key coat-of-arms on a flourished background. The photo is black and white.
Juan Manuel Gabino, 14 June 2002
Actually this is the pendón de Gibraltar or Gibraltar banner, kept at the city hall of San Roque, a municipality whose name in full is Ciudad de Gibraltar en el Campo de San Roque or Gibraltar City in the field of San Roque. When the original population of Gibraltar left temporarily the city during the Spanish War of Succession and the British takeover, they took refuge in and around the nearby church of San Roque. Eventually they were unable to return, forming a new town whose name recalled their origins. Many Spanish official documents make reference to the San Roque population as being that of Gibraltar, and even the coat-of-arms (and the banner as said above) is that of Gibraltar. See for instance this webpage and this Andalusian regional government webpage. A picture of the reverse side of the banner, showing the arms of Charles III, is shown in this webpage.
An interesting article dealing with the vexillological and heraldical implications of the subject is Armas y enseñas históricas de la ciudad y Reino de Gibraltar (1502-1978) in Banderas no.70, March 1999.
Santiago Dotor, 17 Jun 2002
The flag and arms of San Roque were approved by the Municipal Council and submitted on 21 August 2007 to the General Directorate of Local Administration, which confirmed them by Decree on 6 September 2007, published in the Andalusian official gazette (Boletín Oficial de la Junta de Andalucía, BOJA) No. 184 on 18 September 2007.
The relevant parts of the Decree are the following:
Coat of arms: Spanish shield divided per fess debased. 1. Argent a castle from which hangs a chain with three links or with a key of the same on the base gules, the ward dexterwise; an orle or. The shield surmounted with a Royal crown open.Flag: Panel in proportions 3:2 (length per hoist), horizontally divided in two parts: the upper, 2/3 of the hoist, white, and the lower, 1/3 of the hoist, red. In the middle of the panel, the municipal coat of arms.
The symbols should be registered on the Andalusian Register of Local Entities, with their official written description and graphics (as originally submitted, but unfortunately not apprended to the Decree).
Source: BOJA No. 184, p. 10, 18 Sep 2007 [PDF]
Unsurprisingly, the symbols of San Roque are very similar to those of Gibraltar.
The "Pendón de Gibraltar," kept in the town hall of San Roque, is said to have been embroidered by Queen of Castile Joanna the Mad in 1502. It is a red flag with on one side the arms of Charles III and on the other side a shield with the castle and key of Gibraltar, surmounted by the coronet of the Dukes of Medinaceli.
