City of Garachico (Tenerife Island, Santa Cruz de Tenerife Province, Canary Islands, Spain)

Excelentísimo Ayuntamiento de Garachico

Last modified: 2009-01-24 by eugene ipavec
Keywords: spain | canary islands | tenerife | garachico | coat of arms |
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image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 18 May 2008

• Description
• Former Flag
• Standard
• Coat of Arms

See also:

• Tenerife Island (Canary Islands, Spain)
• Canary Islands (Spain)
• Spain

Other sites:

• Flags of Tenerife by José Manuel Erbez

Garachico was the most important city in northern Tenerife until it was all but destroyed by a volcanic eruption in 1716. It has a horizontally striped black-white-light blue flag with the coat-of-arms in the centre, about a half of the flag's height. The image in José Manuel Erbez's website does not bear the coat-of-arms, which can be seen here. I saw the flag (and took a picture of it) in front of the Town Hall, so maybe there is an "official" flag and a "civil" one. By the way, the coat-of-arms on the flag I saw showed the regular Spanish royal crown, as in the national arms.

Santiago Dotor, 3 May 2000

The Order of the Consejería de Presidencia [a department in the Canary autonomous government] which approved the flag described and illustrated it without the coat-of-arms, and I have thus preferred to show it like that in my pages. There is however a common practice of showing the flag with the coat-of-arms, probably to make them more official.

José Manuel Erbez, translated by Santiago Dotor, 04 May 2000

The lower stripe in the flag of Garachico should be turquoise blue (i.e. greenish blue or bluish green) and not light blue as above, since the Order by which the flag was approved (available at the Canary Islands Official Website) specified that shade:

Paño rectangular, de seda, tafetán, raso, lanilla o fibra sintética, según los casos, cuya longitud es vez y media mayor que su ancho; compuesto de tres franjas horizontales de igual tamaño; la primera o superior de color negro, la central de color blanco y la inferior de color azul turquesa.

Si la bandera ostentara el escudo heráldico del municipio, éste deberá colocarse en el centro del paño y con una altura de dos tercios del alto de la bandera, preferentemente en ambas caras.

José Manuel Erbez, translated by Santiago Dotor, 27 Nov 2000

The flag I saw at Garachico's city hall showed a shade of blue difficult to define otherwise than simply light blue, and the flag shown at José Manuel Erbez's website looks to me like light blue. I wonder if the said Order specified any Pantone or similar shade.

Santiago Dotor, 27 Nov 2000

The municipality is using the black over white over light blue tricolour with the CoA in the centre of the flag of both sides. The height of the CoA was estimated 2/3 of total height.

Sources and Credits

Klaus-Michael Schneider, 18 May 2008

Flag adopted in 1998.

Source: El Día, 03 Aug 2008

Ivan Sache, 07 Aug 2008

Variant Without Arms (May Not Exist)

2:3
image by Santiago Dotor

image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 14 Apr 2007

Garachico had a plain white flag with the coat of arms in its centre, but there exists a newer flag. I spotted this flag on 30 January in Military Museum Sta. Cruz d. T.

Sources and Credits

Klaus-Michael Schneider, 14 and 22 Apr 2007

image by José Manuel Erbez, 01 Apr 2008

The standard of the Municipality of Garachico is a light blue, square flag with the coat of arms in its centre. The flag was adopted by order of the Consejería de Presidencia del Gobierno de Canarias on 15 March 1994, published in BOC on 27 April 1994.

Source: Banderas de Canarias website by José Manuel Erbez

Klaus-Michael Schneider, 01 Apr 2008

image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 01 Apr 2008

The standard of the Garachico Provincial Militia Regiment is a white, square flag with a red Burgundy cross and an inscription of red capitals REGIMIENTO and opposite DE GARACHICO. The E of the word DE is superimposed on the D. In Garachico were the headquarters of the local provincial militia regiment. Therefore in the municipality's coats of arms red banners are added to the doggy supporters. I spotted this flag on 30 January 2007 in Military Museum of Santa Cruz d. T. The image was however redrawn from the museum's flyer.

Klaus-Michael Schneider, 01 Apr 2008

image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 23 Apr 2007

It's a quarterly divided shield:

• In the first quarter is a golden tower in a red field.
• In the second one is a yellow mountain spitting red fire in a dark blue field (looks to me like a upside-down badminton ball).
• The third one shows a white ship in front of a green mountain. Sky and sea are of dark blue.
• Finally the fourth quarter shows a golden upright anchor in a red field.

The quarters are superimposed at their intersection by a green inescutcheon with a golden Greek cross. The middle base is superimposed at the bottom point by a yellow rhombus with a black diamond in its centre. Two brownish rampant dogs, each in front of a pair of red flags stuck on flagpoles are the shields supporters. Under the shield is an order hanging at a blight blue ribbon. The shield is topped by a coronet. The coat of armes was granted by order from 17 March 1987, published in BOC No.37: 27 March 1987.

This was the description of the coat of arms depicted in leaflets of municipalities. It doesn't match however the description given in BOC. My translation from that description:

"It's a quarterly divided shield. In the first quarter is a golden tower in a red field. In the second is a silver anchor above blue and white waves in a blue field. The third one shows a white fully rigged up ship in front of a mountain covered with green bushes. Sky and sea are of dark blue. Finally the fourth quarter shows a golden compass rose with a black and golden pointer in a red field. Over all is a green inescutcheon with a golden fountain. The middle base is superimposed at the bottom point by a yellow rhomb with a black diamond in its centre. Two rampant dogs with red tongues, each with two red flags at its side are the shields supporters. Under the shield is a light blue ribbon with a golden inscription "Glorioso en su adversidad" ("Glorious (even) in its misfortune"). A golden medal of the order "Bellas Artes" is hanging at the ribbon. The shield is topped by a duke's coronet."

Spanish source text from BOC:

Escudo cuartelado. 1º. De gules, una torre de oro; 2º. De azur, un áncora de plata sobre ondas de azur y plata; 3º. De azur, un peñón al natural sembrado de arbustos de sinople y una nave con velamen de plata sobre ondas de azur y plata; 4º. De gules, una rosa de los vientos o brújula de oro y sable. Sobre el todo un escudo de sinople con una venera de oro. Tenantes, dos canes rampantes linguados de gules y dos banderas de gules a sus lados. En punta, una cinta de azur con el lema de oro "Glorioso en su adversidad" y pendiente, la medalla de oro de Bellas Artes. Al timbre, Corona Ducal.

Sources and Credits

Klaus-Michael Schneider, 23 Apr 2007

A modification of the CoA of 1987:

• The tower in the 1st quarter is the fortress of san Miguel, erected in 1575 and made from stone.
• The volcano in the 2nd quarter is an alusion to the eruption of the Teide in 1706, which destroyed the local harbour, then the most important one of the whole island.
• The anchor also is an alusion to that harbour; the inscription also reminds on the eruption from 1706.
• The rock is El Roque, a tiny rocky island opposite of the coast of Garachico.
• The scallop is an attribute of St. Roch ("Roque"), who is said to have been the village's protector during an epidemic of the plague in 1601.
• The dogs as supporters are taken from the coat of arms of the Canary Islands.
• The banners refer to the fact that Garachico was the headquarters of the regiment of the provincial militia.
• The medal below was granted to the village on 7 March 1980 by King Juan Carlos I.

Source: Simbolos De Canarias website by José Manuel Erbez

Klaus-Michael Schneider, 21 Mar 2008