Barcelos Municipality (Portugal)

Last modified: 2001-09-14 by antonio martins
Keywords: barcelos | coat of arms | quinas | waves: 5 | aqueduct | river c�vado |
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The flag is typical: a gyronny of red over yellow, with coat of arms at the centre composed of a 5-towered mural crown, a scroll reading "CIDADE DE BARCELOS" and a shield with almost as many charges as the number of communes! The background is blue and then it has in chef three pointy escutcheons, the central one silver with a hollow red saltire, and the other ones silver with the portuguese quinas. In the point, 5 silver and blue wavy stripes and along the middle we can find a yellow tower with red door and windows, a strange ground-level building also yellow with red door and windows, a yellow wall and either a bridge or an aqueduct superimposed on the wall, plus a stylized tree and yet another yellow building with red door and window: this is probably a chapel, though the pinnacle is rather strange.
Jorge Candeias, 13 Oct 1998

The only charge that makes immediate sense are the wavy lines, that stand for the river C�vado that crosses the municipality from east to west and passes by the municipal head, and also perhaps the bridge or aqueduct, I don�t know.
Jorge Candeias, 13 Oct 1998

Gyronny of red and yellow.
Jorge Candeias, 21 Jul 1999

Barcelos is a city in Northern Portugal, in the district of Braga, old province of Minho, and possible future region of Entre Douro e Minho. The municipality is not very large, 378.7 sq.km, but relatively well populated, 116 200 inhabitants, and breaks all records concerning the number of communes: 89! The economy is based on industry, particularly clothes and shoes, and also agriculture. This place is also quite known abroad by it�s unique form of handicraft, the Barcelos cock (as in rooster... don�t confuse this with the handicraft from Caldas da Rainha...)
Jorge Candeias, 13 Oct 1998