Last modified: 2010-02-19 by antónio martins
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Website of the Association
of Portuguese municipalities: Maps of the districts and regions are
shown, as well as the coat of arms (unfortunately not the flag) of each
entity.
Ivan Sache, 18 Feb 2001
Also a list of the
three-letter codes used also in our site.
António Martins, 22 May 2007
In Portugal the various cities, towns, villages and so on are divided into 3 cathegories depending on the number of its inhabitants, and some other, sometimes esotheric things:
According to the municipality’s flag law, only cities (cidades) have a gironny flag, towns (vilas) have them quartely. Of 305 minicipalities I suppose that no more than 70 are cities (where 39 in 1974…). There are some exceptions to this rule, of course — by heart, I’d recall Calheta de São Jorge and Fronteira, wich are vertical bicolors instead of quartely; Lagos, that is saltire quarterly instead of gironny; and a number of flags that should de quarterly and are gironny or the other way around.
The law also says that the flag backgrounds
should be one color (or metal) or
metal and color — not color and color nor metal and metal… But a lot of flags
do not obey to this rule!…
António Martins, 3 Oct 1997
All the portuguese municipal and communal coats of arms are topped by a mural
crown. As far as I know, there is only one exception to this rule, the municipality
of Horta in the Azores, whose arms have a real crown on
top (plus an arm holding a sword).
Jorge Candeias, 28 Apr 1998
It should be noted that that only communes (freguesias) and municipalities have
flags and arms — cities, towns and vilages per se are not recognized as an
adminstrative division. (Some municipalities occupy the same territory of the head,
but typical municipalities have both urban and countryside areas…).
António Martins, 30 Apr 1998
The only way to learn the meaning of the charges in portuguese municipal coats
of arms is by guessing, because they are not explained anywhere.
Jorge Candeias, 05 Apr 1998
Although this is not completely true (there are of course law texts at the
Official Journal, Diário da República, and some heraldic
information published here and there), in practice is very difficult to gather
a comprehensive listing of all of them (total 307, 18 more real soon now).
Usually is necessary to individually send a letter to each municipality…
António Martins, 08 Apr 1998
Yes and no. Every municipal coat of arms is described in the
law that
creates the municipalities (the problem is knowing when this law was published
and finding a copy of the Diário da República of that date,
which is practically impossible for those that do not live in or near Lisbon).
But, as far as I know, the charges are not explained anywhere. Even when
we write letters to the municipalities, we usually only get the description,
not the explaining.
Jorge Candeias, 08 Apr 1998
Sure, you’re right: The official text is only a description, not an
explanation. This should be obtained from the Heraldry Committee, something
quite difficult (and expensive), also to those living in Lisbon…
António Martins, 30 April 1998
There is a big confusion about the gyronny flag colour order in the law
about portuguese municipal flags.
Sérgio Horta, 18 Feb 2001
While most printed flags have identical revreses with illegible writing,
some quality flags have two identical images of the coat of arms sewn or
embriodered on each side. The gyrony or quarterly background of the flag is
naturaly not reversed in the reverse, though, the colors being thus in
opposite positions.
António Martins, 30 Aug 2001
Portugese subnacional flags using the same pair of colors can only
distinguished trough the the coats of arms.
Sérgio Horta, 24 Oct 2001
Most flag images show the arms’s charges in yellow and white where
the arms show respectively golden and silvery, except for the mural crown,
which for some reason is always metalic silver (or grey) even on outdoor flags
— this agrees with the practice on most municipalities and communes.
(Exceptions described when known.)
António Martins, 26 Oct 2001
According to the relevant law, there shall
be no other elements on the flag, apart from the coat of arms. Typically
the coat of arms consists of shield, crown and scroll, augmented with any
Chivalry Order granted to the municipaly seat. Currently, those are the
Order of the Tower and Sword (Ordem da Torre e Espada), depicted
with it’s necklace under and bellow the shield, and granted to 15
municipalities
(Alcobaça,
Amarante,
Angra do Heroismo,
Aveiro,
Bragança,
Chaves,
Coimbra,
Covilhã,
Elvas,
Évora,
Lisboa (Lisbon),
Mirandela,
Ovar,
Porto (Oporto) and
Santarém), and the
Order of Christ (Ordem de Cristo),
depicted as its medal and a piece of ribbon shwoing from bottom bellow
the shield, partly covering the scroll, and granted to one municipality
(Castelo Branco).
Some atypical municipal flags have other elements charged on the
background, usually atypical parts of the coat of arms.
António Martins, 26 Oct 2001
Banners are ceremonial flags made
to be carried around, although very, very seldom used, at least in Portugal;
I don't think I’ve ever seen a single portuguese municipal banner, with the
exception of a couple of ancient ones, framed and attached to the wall.
Jorge Candeias, 10 Mar 2007
This list is growing everyday, as material contributed by visitors and list members from the last two years is finnaly edited. Please check often!
This list is growing everyday, as material contributed by visitors and list members from the last two years is finnaly edited. Please check often!
Often ad nauseam, invariably shaped as a wavy fess at the
point of the shield, these stand for rivers (blue and white) or sea
(green and white), sometimes combined. May also be only one (usually
fimbriated) or as many as nine.
António Martins, 07 Aug 2001
Usually (at least in portuguese vexillology) blue and silver wavy
stripes mean river, while green and silver mean sea.
António Martins, 08 Apr 1998
Algarvan heads and
azorean goshawk are
the only distinctive regional charges in our municipal heraldry (plus the
star in the municipalities of the Estrela Range
region, though in a much
lesser degree), having all the other charges a more local / historical
character. The reasons for this are different, I think. Although in the
Algarve what happens is that it used to be a de jure separate kingdom
under a personal union with Portugal until the 20’s of the last
century, thus having it’s own set of symbols, in my humble opinion
the goshawk derives from the obvious graphical
expression of the name of the islands.
Jorge Candeias, 31 Mar 1999
A phenomenon is being repeated with some frequence in recent years and in many municipalities: Whenever the newly elected municipal government is lead by a party formerly in the municipal opposition, the former municipal logo (something that become common place in almost all municipalities) is discarded a new one is created.
This has probably to do with the fact that municipal logos are created by local advertisement agencies, and the new mayor’s “friends” in that particular field may not be the same as the former’s — or in general, has perhaps to do with the ephemerousness of commercial campaign logos in general. One thing is though certain: this has little political meaning in itself, as the logos, new and old, have never any evident political element.
For what it is worth, I know no situation where a reelected mayor (or a new mayor from the same party as the former) has caused a radical change in the municipal logo. This may imply that the municipal logo (and the flags with it) are more and more clearly seen as the symbol of the municipal “cabinet”, while the coat of arms and the official municipal flag are seen as the symbol of the municipality itself and its administrative and representative power.
This trend is perhaps a welcome clarification and dismantles the need to “chose” between a municipal logo and a municipal coat of arms, as they become more and more distinct in their meaning and usage.
António Martins, 26 Aug 2003
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