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Escacena del Campo (Municipality, Andalusia, Spain)

Flag of Escacena del Campo - Image from the Símbolos de Huelva website, 24 August 2016

Presentation of Escacena del Campo
Symbols of Escacena del Campo

See also:

Presentation of Escacena del Campo

The municipality of Escacena del Campo (2,095 inhabitants in 2015; 13,600 ha; municipal website) is located 60 km north-east of Huelva, on the border with the Province of Seville.

Escacena del Campo is established on the sites of the former towns of Tejada la Vieja (Old Tejada) and Tejada la Nueva (New Tejada).
Tejada la Vieja was founded by the Tartessians in the 8th century BC, as a main urban center; established atop of a hill, the town overlooked the road connecting the coast of Andalusia to a region rich in silver, copper and lead mines. River Guadiamar was then the main means of transport of ore from Tejada to the coast. In the 7th-6th century BC, Tejada established contact with Phoenician merchants, as evidenced by remains of ceramics found in Escacena. The town was abandoned in the second half of the 6th century BC, resulting in the establishment of Tejada la Nueva in a more suitable site.
Tejada la Nueva, known as Ituci, was a main Roman town, surrounded by a wall protected by towers and minting its own coins. Pompeia Plotina, the wife of Emperor Trajan, is said to have been born in Itucia, without the least evidence, however. Escacena was named for villa Scacius.

During the Muslim rule, the town was known as Talhyata. The Moors doubled the fortifications of the town, built mills and established irrigated gardens (huertas) still in production. After the Christian reconquest in 1253, the area was granted to the Council of Seville. A battle during which 20,000 Muslims were allegedly killed is recalled by the Slaughter's Hill (Cerro de la Matanza).

Ivan Sache, 24 August 2016

Symbols of Escacena del Campo

The flag (photo) and arms of Escacena del Campo, adopted on 10 April 1995 by the Municipal Council, are prescribed by Decree No. 114, adopted on 19 March 1996 by the Government of Andalusia and published on 14 May 1996 in the official gazette of Andalusia, No. 56, p. 4,808. (text). This was confirmed by a Resolution adopted on 30 November 2004 by the Directorate General of the Local Administration and published on 20 December 2004 in the official gazette of Andalusia, No. 246, pp. 28,986-29,002 (text).
The symbols are described as follows:

Flag: Rectangular panel in proportions 11 x 18, made of three parallel stripes of equal width (1/3 each) perpendicular to the hoist, the first black, the second white, and the third yellow. Charged in the center with the local coat of arms.
Coat of arms: Argent a warrior proper with golden shoes in the sinister arm a shield of the same in the dexter arm a spear sable riding a horse sable. The shield surmounted by a Royal crown closed.

The symbols were proposed on 2 November 1994 by Juan José Antequera.
The coat of arms is based on a proto-heraldic seal adopted on 3 September 1904 by the Municipal Council and presented on 10 October 1904 by its designer, Silverio Escobar y Salazar (author of Noticia histórica de la villa de Escacena del Campo y de la ciudad de Tejada antigua Iptuci hispalense, published in 1910 in Seville). The seal was inaugurated on 1 November 1904. Circular and inscribed with "Ayuntamiento de Escacena del Campo", the seal features a rider wearing a helmet, a shield in the left hand holding a spear, riding a horse passant. The word "Itvci" is written between two spikes in fess, the one sinister pointing upwards, the one dexter pointing downwards, surrounded dexter by a figured moon reverted and sinister by a six-pointed star. The shield is surmounted by a Royal crown open, eventually replaced by a Royal crown closed. On colour reproductions, the field is blue, the horse white shadowed in black and the warrior proper; the base is brown, the writing black, the spikes proper, the moon and star blue, and the bordure or with black writing.
The rider is derived from coins minted in Ittuci / Iptuci / Tucci. On most coins, the horse is represented rampant instead of passant, while the other charges represented on the early seal are a matter of diverse interpretations among specialists. Accordingly, the "rehabilitated" arms kept only the rider.
[Juan José Antequera. Principios de transmisibilidad en las heráldicas officiales de Sevilla, Córdoba y Huelva]

Ivan Sache, 24 August 2016