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![[Monchique municipal flag]](../images/p/pt-mcq.gif)
2:3, image by António Martins-Tuválkin and Sérgio Horta, 18 Oct 2025
It is a typical Portuguese municipal flag with the coat of arms centred on a field quartered of green and white.
Source: Sérgio Horta´s webpage
António Martins-Tuválkin, 18 Oct 2025
![[Monchique municipal plain flag]](../images/p/pt-mcq0.gif)
2:3, image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 25 Feb 2000
The flag is quartered of green and white.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 25 Feb 2000
![[Monchique old municipal flag]](../images/p/pt-mcq1.gif)
2:3, image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 29 Oct 2025
It was a fairly untypical Portuguese municipal flag, with the coat of arms with red scroll centred on a plain white field.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 25 Feb 2000
![[Monchique old municipal flag]](../images/p/pt-mcq!2.gif)
image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 9 Dec 2025
The proposal was quartered of red and white with an unusual centred coat of arms between a stylised white coronet with five embattlements above
and a black inscription in handwriting "Mons cicus".
António Martins-Tuválkin, 25 Feb 2000
![[Monchique municipal CoA]](../images/p/pt-mcq).gif)
image by António Martins-Tuválkin and Sérgio Horta, 29 Oct 2025
Shield Vert, a fountain effervescent Argent, accompained in dexter chief by a christian king’s head proper and a moorish king’s head proper in sinister chief.
Mural crown Argent with four visible towers (town rank)and white scroll reading in black upper case letters "VILA DE MONCHIQUE".
Meaning:
The unusual features on this flag are the colour of the scroll and the inscripion on the base of the crown.
The white background is not as uncommon as it is often said — there are four or five of them in Portuguese municipal flags.
As it happens, in the intervening decades the local municipal authorities in Monchique made use of an unofficial coat of arms with an identical shield,
but with two differences in respect to the version approved in 1985: The scroll was red with white lettering and the base rim of the mural coronet,
in place of the usual pattern of ridge-groove-ridge, born an inscription reading "MONS CICUS" (or "MONS CICVS"),
the Roman name for this settlement.
The inscription "MONS CICVS", a hill, on the old arms is the roman name of the town,
whose corruption by late latin, visigothic, mozarabic and andalusian arabic delivered the current name.
Source: Ralf Hartemink´s webpage
António Martins-Tuválkin, 25 Feb 2000
Published in Diário da República: I Série on 16 February 1985, see here.
The main issue about this 1985 legal adoption of the Monchique flag and coat of arms, however, is why such a late date,
a solid 50 years after almost all municipalities in Portugal had their symbols approved by the Comissão de Heráldica da Associação dos Arqueólogos Portugueses (CHAAP).
António Martins-Tuválkin, 25 Feb 2000
Monchique Municipality had 5323 inhabitants in 2023, and it is divided in 3 communes, covering 395 km2.
It belongs to the Faro District and to the old province of Algarve.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 9 Dec 2025
back to Municipalities of Portugal click here