^{This page is part of © FOTW Flags Of The World website}

Municipality of Casabermeja (Andalusia, Spain)

Málaga Province

2:3
image by Ivan Sache, coat of arms from the municipal website, 17 Jul 2009

Introduction
Description
Variant or Erroneous Depiction
Coat of Arms

See also:

Málaga Province (Andalusia, Spain)
Andalusia (Spain)
Spain

Introduction

The municipality of Casabermeja (3,509 inhabitants in 2008; 6,800 ha) is located 70 km north of Málaga.

Casabermeja was first mentioned on charts granted to the town by the Catholic kings. The chart founding the town was confirmed by Queen Joanna in 1509 and 1529 and by Emperor Charles V in 1550, as "Casabermexa, located in the uninhabited Fields of Cámara [...] once settled by the Moors." On 26 February 1633, Agustin de Mancha Velasco purchased the town of Casabermeja.

At that time, Casabermeja was a winegrowers' town; in 1571, Casabermeja sued the Winegrowers' Brotherhood of Málaga, who forbid the sale of Casabermeja wines in their town, relying on a privilege granted by Queen Joanna on 27 July 1513. On 16 August 1578, the court ordered the Málaga winegrowers to allow free trade of wine in the town. This did not solve the case; Decrees of Philip IV (16 October 1640) and Charles II (6 December 1698) nullified the court order and confirmed the privilege granted by Joanna to Málaga.

The inhabitants of Casabermeja are nicknamed "borricos" (donkeys). Once asked to build a fountain in the village, the mayor could not decide of the height of the pillar, high for human beings or lower for animals. He eventually solved the dilemma by saying "If I can reach it, the donkeys can reach it."

Source: Municipal website

Ivan Sache, 17 Jan 2009

Description

The flag and arms of Casabemerja were approved by the Municipal Council on 3 December 2004 and submitted on 19 January 2005 to the General Directorate of Local Administration, which confirmed them by Decree on 2 February 2005, published in the Andalusian official gazette (Boletín Oficial de la Junta de Andalucía, BOJA) No. 34 on 17 February 2005.

The relevant parts of the Decree are the following:

Coat of arms: Spanish shield, or, a castle gules port and windows azure. The border per pale purple and vert The shield surmounted with a Royal crown closed.

Flag: Panel in proportions 2/3, vermillion [in Spanish, "bermejo"], with the municipal coat of arms 2/4 (sic) of the hoist, located at 1/3 of the hoist.

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 appended to the Decree).

Source: BOJA No. 34, p. 30, 17 Feb 2005

Ivan Sache, 17 Jan 2009

Variant or Erroneous Depiction

image by Blas Delgado, 18 Oct 2005

Coat of Arms

The municipal website has a page dedicated to the municipal symbols. Bermeja has used in the past different coats of arms, none of them being officially approved. In 2004, the municipality commissioned two experts in heraldry and vexillology, Antonio Nieto Carnicer and Ignacio Koblischek Zaragoza, to design a flag and a coat of arms, based on the symbols approved on 3 February 1996 but rejected by the competent authorities. The red castle is canting for the name of the town, Cars Bermeja (Arabic) or Castillo Bermejo ("The Vermillion Castle"); the castle, later suppressed, watched the Fields of Cámara in the Moorish times. The blue port and windows of the castle represent the hospitality offerred by the inhabitants of the town to their visitors. The yellow background of the shield represent grain, the traditional crop in the area. The border of the shield uses the colours of the Province of Málaga.

Source: Municipal website

Ivan Sache, 17 Jan 2009