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Santa María de Guía de Gran Canaria (Municipality, Canary Islands, Spain)

Flag of Santa María de Guía de Gran Canaria, as seen in the Council Room of the Town Hall - Image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 6 October 2011

Symbols of Santa María de Guía de Gran Canaria

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Symbols of Santa María de Guía de Gran Canaria

The flag of Santa María de Guía de Gran Canaria is prescribed by a Decree adopted on 15 April 1992 by the Government of the Canary Islands and published on 10 July 1992 in the official gazette of the Canary Islands, No. 94, p. 5,308 (text).
The flag is described as follows:

Flag: The flag is made of a rectangular panel, in proportions 2:3, divided into two horizontal stripes, the upper white and the lower celeste blue In the central part of the flag is placed the town's coat of arms.

Coat of arms of Santa María de Guía de Gran Canaria - Image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 6 October 2011

The coat of arms of Santa María de Guía de Gran Canaria is prescribed by a Decree adopted on 15 April 1992 by the Government of the Canary Islands and published on 10 July 1992 in the official gazette of the Canary Islands, No. 94, pp. 5,306-5,307 (text).
The "actualized" coat of arms is described as follows:

Coat of arms: Rounded-off shield, quartered per cross.
1. Gules a castle or.
2. Per fess. Upper part, gules an arm armed of a branch of olive all proper. Lower part, Azure three waves argent.
3. Or a tower (or a fortified manor) surrounded by two palm trees with dogs passant at the base all proper.
4. Or a lion rampant gules.
Inescutcheon azure an eight-pointed star or charged with the Marian monogram argent.
A bordure azure charged with eight pairs of swords proper crossed per saltire and 15 five-pointed maorning stars argent; in the upper central part, three stars surrounded by two pairs of swords; in the lower central part, four pairs of swords, 2 and 2, surrounded by two pairs of swords; in the sides of the bordure, four stars, one in the upper angle and one in the median part, surrounded by two pairs of swords.
The shield surmounted by a Royal crown closed. Above it a scroll gules inscribed with the motto "ESTRELLA Y GUÍA DE GRAN CANARIA" [Star and Protector of Gran Canaria].

According to José Manuel Erbez (Banderas y escudos de Canarias, 2007; website), the 1st and 4th quarters are taken from the arms of the Kingdom of Castile. The 2nd quarter shows the arms of Sancho de Vega, the founder of the settlement. The 3rd quarter shows the arms of Gran Canaria (indeed of the today's capital, Las Palmas). The stars on the bordure and the inescutcheon are alluding to St. Mary the Protector. The inscription on the scroll is her invocation.

The coat of arms shown on the flag in use is different. Two pairs of swords have been replaced by white millrinds. In the 2nd quarter, the arm is placed in a field or covered by a cloud argent. Instead of waves, there are just three horizontal lines on a field azure. The field of the inescutcheon is or. At the base of the 3rd and 4th quarters are horizontal lines sable.

Klaus-Michael Schneider & Ivan Sache, 3 October 2011