Castro Vicente Commune (Portugal) (original) (raw)


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Freguesia de Castro Vicente, Concelho de Mogadouro, Distrito de Bragança

Last modified: 2016-07-15 by klaus-michael schneider
Keywords: [castro vicente](keywordc.html#castro vicente) | coronet | barrulet(wavy) | olive(branch) |
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[[Castro Vicente commune]](../images/p/pt-mgdcv.gif)2:3 image by António Martins-Tuválkin and Klaus-Michael Schneider, 16 May 2016

About the Flag

It is a typical Portuguese communal flag, with the coat of arms centred on a field quartered of green and white.

Coat of arms

[[Castro Vicente commune CoA].gif)](../images/p/pt-mgdcv%29.gif)image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 27 Mar 2016

Shield Vert, base Or charged with a barrulet Azure, two olive branches Or in saltire, fruited and tied Argent, in chief a royal coronet Or gemmed Gules and Vert. Mural crown Argent with four visible towers (town rank) and white scroll with inscription in black initials "CASTRO VICENTE".
Meaning:
The word "castro" means "castrum", a Roman or pre-Roman fortress, or (more usually) the ruins thereof; "Vicente" is the given name "Vincent". The communal namesake settlement takes its name from a nearby named castrum.
Source: this webpage
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 27 Mar 2016

However, there's evidence of use of a completely different coat of arms in 2006. This photo, which shows a roadside communal border marker displaying a coat of arms in all details much like something the CHAAP would approve (cp. the very different case of Santa Maria d'�meres [pt-vlpsm.html]), showing the local pillory between two chestnut twigs (?) on a golden shield, with a short-toponym scroll reading "CASTRO VICENTE". Its not for sure that the CHAAP would like a greyish/silvery pillory on a golden background, though. Anyway, might this be a proposal from an older arms initiative by the village that didn't make it. The imagery could be from the CHAAP, recoloured the way the village people wanted it.
Source: this photo
António Martins-Tuválkin and Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 20 May 2016

Flag and arms published in the official journal Diário da República: II Série on 3 March 2015
Source: here
António Martins-Tuválkin, 16 May 2016

Presentation of Castro Vicente

Castro Vicente Commune is one of the 21 communes of Mogadouro Municipality; it had 337 inhabitants in 2011 and covers 33.8 km². Castro Vicente is a former municipality seat (Castro Vicente municipality existed from 1315 to 1836) - hence the four towers and the choice for a two-coloured background (even though the law doesn't bar unremakable communes to have two-coloured flags, it has been an custom of the Comissão de Heráldica da Associação dos Arqueólogos Portugueses (CHAAP) till recently to reserve the quartered pattern to go only with 4-tower CoAs).
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 27 Mar 2016 and António Martins-Tuválkin, 16 May 2016

back to Mogadouro Communes click here