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Municipality of Alcoi / Alcoy (Alicante Province, Valencian Community, Spain)

Alcoi / Alcoy County

3:5
image from www.conet.com.es

Introduction
Former Flag
Description

See also:

Alicante / Alacant Province (Valencian Community, Spain)
Valencian Community (Spain)
Spain

Introduction

The municipality of Alcoi (in Spanish, Alcoy; 64,507 inhabitants; 130.6 sq. m) is located in the Province of Alacant (Alicante). Alcoi was built in a plain watered by several rivers, and is therefore known as "the Town of the Bridges."

The oldest remains of human settlements found in El Salt date back to 40,000 years. The rock paintings of the Sarga, dated 5,000 years BC, have been registered on the UNESCO World Heritage List. In the 4th-3rd centuries BC, Alcoi was the site of the Iberian sanctuary where several terracota ex-votos have been excavated; the Iberians are thought to be the authors of the famous "Ploms d'Alcoi," whose writing has not been deciphered yet.

The Romanization of the region started in the 2nd century. In the 10-13th centuries, the Muslims developed irrigated agriculture. In 1276, the Christians won the Battle of Alcoi and expelled the Muslim rulers; they built the Castle of Barxell, watching the big plain where the Muslim farmers still lived. In the 15th century, Alcoi was a strategic place, protecting the coat threatened by the Moorish pirates, and was granted the title of Royal Town. The paper and textile industries, initiated by Lord Roger de Llúria in the 13-14th centuries, thrived, significantly contributing to the beginning of the industrial revolution in Spain. Alcoi was the place of the first Luddite revolt (mostly known for the destruction of mechanized looms by workers) in Spain.

Source: Municipal website

Ivan Sache, 10 Dec 2008

Former Flag

According to the documentation gathered by Josep Termo Colomina, the flag of Alcoi is one of the oldest and best documented flags in the Valencian Community. While its origins have to be found in 1447, when Alcoi was proclaimed a Royal Town, the oldest written document mentioning the flag of Alcoi dates back to 1509.

During the St. George procession held on 23 April 1582, a new town flag was used, portraying St. George for the first time. After the arrival of the Bourbons, Alcoi made an embroidered flag for the proclamation of King Louis I in 1724. The flag was white, the heraldic colour of the Bourbons, with in the middle the Royal greater coat of arms and the collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece, and the coat of arms of the town in the four corners of the flag. However, Alcoi did not drop the traditional "Grand Banner of St. George," which was used during the proclamation of King Fernand VI on 22 August 1746. On 13 April 1839, it was decided by the municipal government, for an unknown reason, "to seel the flag once used by the Municipality to represent St. George." This is the last mention of the historical local flag.

Ivan Sache, 10 Dec 2008

Description

I was in NYC in October and could see there the "desfile del Dia de la Hispanidad." The municipality of Alcoi/Alcoy (Alicante province, Valencia, Spain) was one of the guests of the Hispanidad parade, and an "Alcoy en Nueva York: made in Alcoy" special newspaper was given out in the street for this occasion. On the last page, the flag of Alcoi was shown. After some research on Internet, I located another image of the flag at http://www.conet.com.es/alcoy750aniversario/app/aniversario/ficha_aniversario.as\ p?id_aniversario=5.

Olivier Touzeau, 06 Jan 2007

The flag of Alcoi is presented of the website set up for the 750th anniversary of the town. On 24 November 2005, the flag was presented to the public for a period of 30 days; the Decree of the Municipal Council prescribing the flag was then formwarded to the Technical Council of Heraldry for approval.

The modern flag of Alcoi is made of four horizontal red stripes on a yellow backgrounf, with in the middle the Royal coat of arms (I understand the coat of arms granted when the town became a Royal Town) and the early coat of arms of the town representing St. George, the whole surmounted by a Royal crown.

The flag is in proportions 2:3, while the two coat of arms together cover c. 3/4 of the flag width or height.

1. Shield of St. George. Azure a St. George armoured argent riding a horse of the same and trampling a dragon or.

2. Shield of the town. Argent a wall gate proper surmounted by a cross gules on a terrasse vert watered by two rivers azure merging in the base, the gate and the rivers flanked by two mountains proper; a chief azure a rhomb or four pales gules surmonting a pair of wings argent. White is said to be the colour of the snow, and the gate is said to be chestnut brown.

Source: Alcoi 750th Anniversary website

On 3 September 2008, "Información.es" reports that the approvement procedure of the flag of Alcoi was published in the Official Gazette of the Valencian Community on 2 September 2008. The proposal was forwarded to the Ministry of Justice for definitive approvement. Josep Lluís Santonja explained that the flag has been in used since the early 1980s, but was not officialized until the meeting of the Municipal Council held on 25 November 2005. The same situation occurred with the municipal coat ofarms, which was not officialized until July 2001. The approvement procedure was delayed for three years because the Government of the Valencian Community disagreed on some details of the description of the flag. The municipality also claimed that the flag predated the creation of the Valencian Community and did not require approval by the Government. Moreover, nobody ever complained about the use of the flag.

Source: "Información.es," 03 Sep 2008, with a colour photo of the flag

Ivan Sache, 10 Dec 2008