Last modified: 2021-12-24 by rob raeside
Keywords: federal department | entre ríos province | argentina |
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![[Municipality of Federal flag]](../images/a/ar-e-fe.gif)
image by Ivan Sache, 14 Jul 2013
The municipality of Federal (14,478 inhabitants in 2001) is located in
central northern Entre Ríos Province. Federal is the capital of the
Federal Department (25,863 inh. in 2010, 5,060 sq. km), established on
15 September 1972. The department is made of the six districts of
Francisco Ramírez, Diego López, Chañar, Banderas and Las Achiras and
Sauce de Luna, of the municipalities of Federal, Conscripto Bernardi
and Sauce de Luna, and of several other rural settlements.
Federal was first known as Las Yeguas (lit., The Mares), a settlement
established by four horse breeders. On 7 September 1880, Colonel José
Francisco Antelo formally founded a colony named Colonia Antelo,
renamed Colonia Federal in 1884. Federal was recognized as an
independent municipality by the Provincial government in 1888.
The flag of Federal, designed in 2005 by Natividad Cabrera, is
horizontally divided celeste blue-white-celeste blue (recalling the
national flag) with a red diagonal stripe placed in upper right corner
(recalling the Entre Ríos flag and representing Federalism) and the
municipal coat of arms placed along the hoist.
The coat of arms of Federal was adopted in 1973.
The upper part of the shield is charged with historical symbols.
The cross recalls the Christian religion brought by the Jesuits.
The "tacuara", a rudimentary lance made of a knife blade tied to a
stalk of sugarcane, used by gaucho militias during the Argentine war
of independence, recalls the involvement of the gauchos into the
Federalist struggle. The spears with a pennant of the national colours symbolize the
involvement of the Indians in the patriotic struggle; the pennants
are the symbol of Federal sovereignty.
The three stars represent the three original ranches.
The lower part of the shield is charged with elements of the landscape.
The blue line represents brook Federal and its tributaries.
The mares represent the feral equines found in the region.
The bovine represents the main source of income for the region.
THe wheat garb represents crops.
The green hills represent El Montiel and the local "cuchillas" (hills
typical in Entre Ríos and Uruguay, also known in Rio Grande do Sul
[Brazil] as "coxilhas").
Ivan Sache, 14 Jul 2013