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Frailes (Municipality, Andalusia, Spain)

Flag of Frailes - Image from the Símbolos de Jaén website, 2 December 2015

Presentation of Frailes
Symbol of Frailes

See also:

Presentation of Frailes

The municipality of Frailes (1,648 inhabitants in 2014; 4,137 ha; municipal website) s located in the extreme south-west of the Province of Jaén, on the border with the Province of Granada, 90 km of Jaén. The municipality is made of the town of Frailes and of the villages of Los Rosales, Majada Abrigada, Los Bailadores, Los Barrancos, Cañada Alcalá, Cañada Nogueras, Cerrillo del Ciego, La Dehesilla, El Nogueral, Las Parras, Puerto Blanco and Solana de la Parra.

Frailes was known as Alfralyas during the Muslim period. Reconquered in 1341 by the Christians, the town was incorporated to Alcalá la Real, until granted on 25 December 1835 the title of villa.
Frailes is the birth town of Cayetano Bolívar (1897-1939; biography), A medical doctor, Bolívar was the first elected Representative of the Partido Comunista de España (PCE - Communist Party of Spain) at the Cortes (1933-1939). Captured in Jaén by the Francoists, he was shot in Granada.

Ivan Sache, 2 December 2015

Symbols of Frailes

The flag and arms of Frailes, adopted on 13 July 2015 by the Municipal Council and submitted on 14 July 2015 to the Directorate General of the Local Administration, are prescribed by a Resolution adopted on 21 July 2015 by the Directorate General of the Local Administration and published on 5 August 2015 in the official gazette of Andalusia, No. 151, p. 17 (text).
The symbols are described as follows:

Flag: Obverse with two vertical stripes of the same size. The left stripe, holly oak green, similar to the surface of a leaf of that tree. The right stripe silver green, like the reverse of the aforementioned leaf. Fitted to the separation of the two stripes, the coat of arms of the town, centered. The reverse shall be similar to the obverse, but without the coat of arms.
Coat of arms: Spanish shield. Per pale, 1. Argent a branch of holly oak fructed or, 2. Gules two keys argent in saltire. Grafted in base azure three vertical waves argent. The shield surmounted by a Royal crown closed. The shield surrounded by a scroll inscribed "ANTIGUA VILLA DE FRAILES, PRIVILEGIO DE LA NATURALEZA".

The symbols were selected by the inhabitants of Frailes among different proposals. The urge to change the old coat of arms was pushed by María Teresa Murcia, the town's Official Chronicler, who argued that the old model was not representative of Frailes. The new arms were designed by Domingo Murcia, the official chronicler of Alcalá la Real. The holy oak highlights the significance of charcoal for the town's history. Water is also a significant element of the town. The keys, already featured on the old arms, are the symbol of Frailes' patron saint, St. Peter.
[Frilespático, 24 January 2015]

The old coat of arms of Frailes was "Gules a Latin cross or charged with two keys argent in saltire and surrounded by two towers or port and windows sable. The shield surmounted by a Royal crown open.
[Símbolos de Jaén website]

Ivan Sache, 2 December 2015