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Santa Cruz de Tenerife Province (Canary Islands, Spain)

2:3
by Jens Pattke

See also:

Provincial Flags (Spain)
Canary Islands (Islas Canarias, Spain)
Spain

Description

The source for Jens Pattke's image is Ministerio para las Administraciones Públicas 1992.

Falko Schmidt, 20 January 2002

Island Municipal Flags Overview

Meanwhile i succeeded in accumulating new information with help and permission from José Manuel ERBEZ from San Cristóbal de La Laguna (Tenerife). He has recently started a new website "Simbolos de Canarias", showing not only the flags but also the CoAs and some additional information about the islands. I have partially translated his side from Spanish to German and meanwhile finished the sections of Tenerife, El Hierro and La Gomera. There are two types of flags: 1a) White flags showing simply the CoA in their centres. They are used inofficially by the municipality's. There is one exception: the capital Santa Cruz de Tenrife, which flag was granted in 1803 by the Spanish king. 1b) Other inofficial, coloured flags, used by the municipality's: those are Arafo, Los Realejos and Los Silos. 1c) flags, who are according to ERBEZ do not exist, i.e. they have been probably not used by the municipality's, but there exists at least ONE exemplar in local military museum. 2) officially adopted coloured flags, which have according to HIdC no CoA, but which are often used with CoA by the municipality. In fact BOC (Boletin official de Canarias) says, that the municipality's are principally allowed to use their flags also with CoA. The descriptions, dealing with the CoA often are not really precise. The worst is La Matanza. Here even the description of flag says simply "bicolour". This must be the reason that the Matanzeros are using three different patterns side by side. In my contribution from April/May 2007 I referred to a source, which I gave the abbreviation HIdC. The complete title of this source is: Pedro LASSO:"Heráldica institucional de Canarias", Tenerife, 2003 ISBN 84-607-9040-1 HidC only shows images of coloured flags WITHOUT coat of arms. ERBEZ sometimes shows flags with, sometimes without CoA, depending on the first description given in BOC. I have, of course, also completely checked the primary sources, i.e. electronic versions of BOC, given by ERBEZ as weblinks. As I have no access to the paper versions, this time I refer only to the electronic ones without giving a page. But all the data can be easily proved by using the links of ERBEZ. The first date I denoted as date of adoption, the second date is the date of publishing, usually in BOC. (The CoAs have normally been granted earlier. If any additional information is needed, please let me know.) The contradiction between the description and the image of the CoA of GARACHICO (new flag already published on FOTW) meanwhile could be ended. Garachico got its first (modern) CoA in 1987 and changed the CoA in 1992. The image, provided by me shows the 1992 version. That means, the flag I spotted in the Military Museum cannot be a historic one. It must be a unique flag instead only made for purposes of exhibition within the museum. Planned steps: 1)I'll send descriptions of all the meanings of the CoAs, I have not yet contributed all in one without attachments. 2)I'll send the same about meaning of the colours of new flags, which doesn't exist for every flag 3) I'll send bigger GIF images of new flags including some minor corrections. 4) Finally I'll send corrections and missing images. The images of St.Ursula (erroneous image), El Sauzal and San Juan dlR(bad images) must be changed. Some official versions and versions of flags without CoA have to be added. The pattern of the flag of Tenerife island with CoA is doubtful. I only had an image of an indoor flag. ERBEZ mentioned on his new webpage, that the CoA of the island had been changed in order to distinguish from that one of S.C.d.L.Laguna. The image is small enough, that you couldn't read the inscription on the border, but unfornutalely they have added two olive branches beneath the shield, which you can't recognize on the photo. ERBEZ, who is a Tinerfeño, was taken by surprise, that they used this pattern on his island. I have added an EXCEL-sheet for the author. I think the flags, marked with a green "yes" might be published, as soon as the additional information or bigger image has arrived. I hope, I can envy all the missing information til the beginning of May. Except Arona all municipality's, according to ERBEZ's enquiries based on BOC, are allowed to use their flags also WITH CoA. Klaus-Michael Schneider, 21 March 2008

In "El Día," Raúl Sánchez gives a detailed account of the municipal flag used in Tenerife island (Canary Islands). The account is based on José Manuel Erbez. The paper version of "El Día" shows a map with all the flags, taken (with permission) from Erbez's book "Banderas y escudos de Canarias."

Out of the 31 municipalities of the island, 29 have a flag, but only 20 have officially adopted their flag. Santa Cruz de Tenerife (1803) and San Cristóbal de La Laguna have the oldest flags. A new batch of municipal flags was designed in 1987-1995: La Matanza de Acentejo (1987), La Guancha and Santiago del Teide (1991), Vilaflor and San Juan de la Rambla (1993), and Tegueste (1995). The next batch (1997-2000) of flags included Granadilla (1997), Arona, Fasnia, Garachico and San Miguel (1998), El Rosario (1999), and Guía de Isora and El Sauzal (2000). Icod approved its flag in 2002, Los Silos in 2003 (replacing an older design) and La Victoria and Arico in 2005.

Since 2005, no new flag has been adopted, while the nine municipalities of Puerto de la Cruz, Adeje, La Orotava, Candelaria, Los Realejos, Tacoronte, Santa Úrsula, Arafo and Buenavista use flags which were never officially adopted. Puerto de la Cruz and Los Realejos started the adoption process, but never completed it.

The two remaining municipalities, El Tanque and Güímar, never had any flag, either official or unofficial. According to Faustino Alegría, Mayor of El Tanque, the Municipal Council adopted in 1998 or 1999 a blue, green and brown flag, but the court rejected it. The same design was approved again by the Municipal Council in 2000 or 2001 but the relevant documentation was lost. Nothing has happened since then.

The most popular colour combination in the municipal flags is white and green, used in five official and one unofficial flags. A white flag with the municipal coat of arms in the middle is the most popular unofficial flag (five flags), but is also the official flag of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the capital of the island.

Equal stripes are used in 13 out of the 20 official flags, which include only three monochrome flags, La Laguna, Santa Cruz and Santiago del Teide's. There is only one flag with four colours, Guía de Isora's, and four flags with three colours, Los Silos, Arona, Garachico and El Sauzal's. White is the most popular colour, used in 14 out of the 20 official flags, followed by green, used in ten flags. Including the unofficial flags, white is used in 22 out of the 29 municipal flags.

The only flag using elements taken from the coat of arms to form a new symbol is Santiago del Teide's, with the Cross of Santiago and nine reproductions of the Teide representing the local boroughs. The flag of San Juan de la Rambla has an original design, including five blue wavy stripes.

Erbez believes that the municipalities care more of the coat of arms than of the flag, because "the coat of arms i s required on official documents and has therefore a practical utility, but do not need a flag and do not bother adopting one."

All the municipalities are briefly presented and their symbols are shown on José Manuel Erbez' website:.

Source: El Día, 03 Aug 2008

Ivan Sache, 07 Aug 2008