Beja Municipality (Portugal)

Concelho de Beja, Distrito de Beja

Last modified: 2014-10-25 by klaus-michael schneider
Keywords: beja | coat of arms (ox) | quinas: 5 | eagle (black) | eagles: 2 | ox: head | castle (red) |
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• About the Flag
• Former Flag reported 1998
• Version without Coat of Arms
• Presentation of Beja

• Beja Communes
• Portugal

• Page about Beja at the Portuguese Municipalities’s Association website (incl. image of the arms)
  reported by António Martins, 18 Nov 2001

About the Flag

It is a fairly typical Portuguese municipal flag, with the coat of arms centred on a field gyronny of eight of red and black (city rank).
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 17 Oct 2014

The coat of arms is typical: 5-towered mural crown above a shield above a scroll reading "CIDADE DE BEJA". The shield is golden with the Portuguese quinas in chief flanked by two black eagles, a proper bull’s head in the centre and a red castle below with silver doors and windows.
Meaning:
The red castle represents the local castle, especially the red colour is symbolizing wars and victories. The bull's head is symbolizing natural riches and especially the production of beef. The eagles are symbolizing the Roman rule. In those times the city was known as "Pax Julia". The quinas are symbolizing, that the city always belonged to the Portuguese crown after the requonquest from the moors.
Jorge Candeias and Sérgio Horta, 18 July 1999

Former Flag reported 1998

The flag is an unusual flag because, despite the status of city, Beja uses a quartered flag, typical of towns, with a city's coat of arms in the centre.
Jorge Candeias, 11 Oct 1998

Version without Coat of Arms

Flag and arms adopted and published in Diário do Governo : I Série on 4 Apr 1938
Sérgio Horta 11 Oct 1998

Presentation of Beja

Beja is a district capital. The city is placed in inland southern Portugal. Used to be the capital of the province of Baixo Alentejo. The municipality is quite large and sparsely populated, as typically happens in Alentejo: 1140.2 km² and only 33 600 inhabitants dispersed in 18 communes. The economy is diverse, based in services in the head of the municipality and agriculture elsewhere. Amongst the district capitals, this is one of the poorest.

Jorge Candeias, 11 Oct 1998

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