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Santa Catarina municipality (Cabo Verde)

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image by António Martins, 23 May 2017

About the municipality
About the flag
Colonial era flag
- Simplified version without the coat of arms
- Arms detail

See also:

External links:

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About the municipality

Concerning the municipality itself, it is located on Santiago Island, taking up most of its western half, from the central summit range to the coast. It was created before independence, in 1834, and the current mun. São Salvador do Mundo was split off mun. Santa Catarina in 2005. Since 1912 Assomada has been the seat settlement of mun. Santa Catarina.
António Martins, 24 Dec 2025

Assomada got upgraded to city status only in 2001, as can be witnessed by the colonial-era coat of arms — its mural coronet bearing only four (town status), not five (city status), visible towers.
António Martins, 25 Dec 2025

This is Santa Catarina mun. on Santiago Island (that is: Saint Catherine on Saint James…)
António Martins, 23 May 2017

This municipality should not be confused with the similarly named Santa Catarina do Fogo, which is also a caboverdean municipality that takes up the western part of one of the islands — in its case of Fogo Island, also named after on of its communes that was created after a catholic parish named after its patron Saint Catherine (possibly the one of Alexandria). To disambiguate, the name Santa Catarina de Santiago is some times used, but, unlike its Fogo counterpart, that epithet is not part of the official name.
António Martins, 24 Dec 2025

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About the flag

On an early 2017 photo of the contemporary mayor, the municipal emblem is visible on a lectern and, behind the speaker, mostly obscured, what seems to be a plain white flag (with the municipal emblem?).
António Martins, 24 Dec 2025

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Brown background

The flag seems to be plain brown with the municipal emblem on it.
António Martins, 23 May 2017

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Colonial era flag

image by Sérgio Horta and António Martins, 24 Dec 2025 | (source)

The colonial-era municipal flag is a typical Portuguese municipal flag consists of a 2:3 white over red quartered background with the coat of arms centered on it. Mural crown Argent with four visible towers (town rank) and white scroll reading in black upper case serifed letters "Vila de Assomada". The banner should have silvery and red tassels and cord, and golden staff with a spear finial.
António Martins, 24 Dec 2025

At HeraldicaCivica.PT we can see Sérgio Horta’s account of these arms and flag; unusually, no official journal legal prescription is quoted, so Sérgio’s source was likely the Overseas Armourial [lgh66]. The arms are drawn in the same style as contemporary CHAAP artwork; other sources, such as postage stamps and the mentioned book [lgh66] itself, may differ in details.
António Martins, 24 Dec 2025

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Simplified version without the coat of arms

image by António Martins, 28 Feb 2010

Non-monocolored portuguese subnational flags are allowed to have armless variations.
Jorge Candeias, 18 Jul 1999

While the current law, adopted in 1991, doesn’t apply to municipal flags in the colonies, independent in 1975, it however draws most of its content from the 1930 ministerial dispatch, incl. the regulation of armless variations allowed for non-monocolor municipal flags. This 1930 ruling affected all future Portuguese municipal flags, including the colonial ones.
António Martins, Feb 2026

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Arms detail

image by Sérgio Horta and António Martins, 24 Dec 2025 | (source)

The arms are quartered the I Argent 5 escutcheons Azure arrayed crosswise each charged with 5 plates arrayed saltirewise and the II and III Vert a Catherine’s wheel Or and the IV Purpure five gems Argent arrayed saltirewise and in base a mitre Argent and issuant from the dexter base a crozier Argent and overall in abyss an escutcheon Argent a cross patty Gules charged with a cross couped Argent. Sérgio’s quoted blazon in Portuguese follows:

Esquartelado. I. Portugal antigo. II. e III. de verde, roda de Santa Catarina de ouro. IV. de púrpura, cinco pedras de prata. Em Contrachefe, mitra e báculo de prata, colocadas em pala e disposto em faixa. Sobre o todo escudete de prata com a Cruz da Ordem de Cristo. Coroa mural de quatro torres de prata. Listel branco, com a designação em caracteres negro "VILA DE ASSOMADA". Bandeira - Esquartelada de branco e vermelho. Cordões e borlas de prata e vermelho. Haste e lança de ouro.

These arms are similar to those of the capital Praia, differing in the II and III quadrants, which are canting and make this messy armourial achievement slightly less so than that precursor.
António Martins, 24 Dec 2025

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