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Montemor-o-Novo Municipality (Portugal)

Last modified: 2006-02-05 by antonio martins
Keywords: montemor-o-movo | coat of arms | sun (red) | crescent: points to fly (red) | bridge: 3 arches | waves: 6 | hill (black) |
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Montemor-o-Novo municipality
image by António Martins and André Serranho, 21 Mar 1999
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About the flag

It is a quite typical portuguese municipal flag, with the coat of arms centered on a background gyronny (meaning city rank) of white and red. The coat of arms is argent, a three arched masonry bridge argent, lined sable, by a river of six wavy fesses, argent and azure, before a mound sable, topped with a castle azure, opened void, between a moon and a sun gules, in chief. Mural crown argent with five visible towers (city rank) and white scroll reading in black upper case letters "CIDADE DE MONTEMOR-O-NOVO".
António Martins, 21 Mar 1999

The name means «Main hill, the new one» (canting arms), because we have a Montemor-o-Velho, also. There is a castle in the city, alright, and also some bridges and streams, but that is usual. As for the sun and moon, all I can say is that, apart from the obvious moor connection (but then, what’s the sun?), the Order of Sant’Iago had it’s purple cross-sword usually placed between a sun and moon. The cross-sword shows usually as a symbol of links to this order (mostely in the area around ths municipality) in portuguese civic heraldry, but the moon and sun could be a variation of it…
António Martins, 21 Mar 1999


Presentation of Montemor-o-Novo

Montemor-o-Novo municipality had 18 290 inhabitants in 1990, and is divided in 10 communes, covering 1232 km2. It belongs to the Évora District and to the old province of Alto Alentejo.
António Martins, 21 Mar 1999