Last modified: 2023-06-10 by 
zachary harden
Keywords: portugal | proposal | langhans (f. p. de almeida) | coat of arms: tierced per mantel | colonial | dominicans |
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image by António Martins, 12 April 2017
Heraldist F. P. de Almeida Langhans published in p. 67
of his Armorial do Ultramar Português (Lisbon, 1965)
[lgh65] a general model for
the overseas “provinces”’ flags: The national flag defaced
with the shield of the lesser
arms of each province
centered in the lower fly quarter of the red field. This
proposal was approved in 1967, but never come to effect.
The colonial coats of arms, decreed on 8 May 1935, all
had a shield of the same pattern, tierced in mantel, the
dexter silver, five escutcheons, saltire, each charged with
five bezants, gold, in cross; and the point silver, five
waves green. The remaining sinister mantel had some local
emblem. For East Timor this was gyronny, silver over black,
a fleur de lys cross counterchanged charged with one of the
escutcheons.
António Martins, 8 July 1997
"Per gyronny sable and argent a cross fleury counterchanged"
is the Dominican cross, chosen because the
monks of this order were the ones who "established the locals’
obedience to Portugal". (This is on the sinister mantel, the one of
three that would supposedly convey a symbolic references to the
armigerous entity, while the dexter mantel and the point had identical
elements, the former bearing Portugal ancient…)
António Martins, 05 August 2005
The 1935 coat of arms was one of the eight similar coats of arms approved by
Ministerial Decree n.º 8:098, issued by the Colonies’ Minister on 1935.05.08 [https://dre.tretas.org/dre/2450468.dre.pdf]
and published in Diário do Govêrno : I Série 104 of
the same date on pages 597-599 (a rare case of illustrated legal texts
concerning flags in Portuguese legislation).
The illustration of the East
Timor coat of arms is noteworthy as the escutcheon on the core of the Dominican
cross is not marked by horizontal hatch lines (Pietra Santa for Azure) but left
plain, as if it were Argent, contrasting with the hatched escutcheons Azure in
the dexter mantel of the same shield and also in all other seven similar coats
of arms but also with the equally singular escutcheon clasped by the dragon on
the sinister mantel of the Macao coat of arms. This is a meaningless artistic
error, as the escutcheon in question is undoubtedly blue, as the nearby text
prescribes and as it was rendered countless times.
António Martins-Tuválkin,
8 July 2016