Last modified: 2014-10-25 by klaus-michael schneider
Keywords: arouca | chief | st. mary | waves(2) | fleur-de-lis(golden) | wreath | cross(triple) |
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![[Arouca municipality]](../images/p/pt-arc.gif)
2:3 image by Jorge Candeias, 19 July 1999
It is a fairly typical Portuguese municipal flag, with the coat of arms centred on a plain yellow field.
Jorge Candeias, 31 Aug 1998
![[Arouca municipality CoA]](../images/p/pt-arc).gif)
image by Sérgio Horta,
The coat of arms is typical: 4-towered mural crown, scroll reading "AROUCA" and a shield divided in two parts: in chief a silver field with a red horizontal triple cross with golden fleurs-de-lis in the intersections of the arms, and below a light blue field charged with two golden branches united by a golden scroll, two silver wavy stripes and the figure of a saint (perhaps Saint Mary).
Meaning:
I can’t even guess the meaning of this coat of arms. I suppose the saint is Saint Mary, in which case that’s the patron of the town. the wavy stripes may refer to the river Paiva or, more likely, to river Arda, since both rivers cross the municipal territory, but Arouca is next to the Arda and fairly close to it’s springs. On the stuff in chief I have no speculation available, though it looks quite similar to a templar flag I saw some months ago, except for the lilies.
Jorge Candeias, 31 Aug 1998
Flag and arms adopted and published in Diário do Governo : I Série on 28 August 1940
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 17 Oct 2014
Plain (monocoloured) Portuguese subnational flags are not allowed to have variations without arms: plain flags always carry the coat of arms.
Jorge Candeias, 18 July 1999
Arouca is a town that belongs to the district of Aveiro, old province and (if the regions are approved) of new region Douro Litoral. The municipality has 328 km² of area and nearly 24 000 inh. in 16 communes It’s not very far from Oporto, but I think that it’s economy is mostly rural, because it’s economical indicators are very low (37,5 to a national average of 100).
Jorge Candeias, 18 July 1999
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