Last modified: 2014-11-15 by klaus-michael schneider
Keywords: arruda dos vinhos | tower(red) | grape | inescutcheon | portugal ancient |
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2:3 image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 13 June 2000 |
2:3 image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 13 June 2000 |
2:3 image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 13 June 2000 |
It is a fairly typical Portuguese municipal flag, with the coat of arms centred on a quarterly red over white field.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 13 June 2000
Coat of Arms composed of shield, 4-towered mural crown and scroll reading "ARRUDA DOS VINHOS". The shield is silver and features a red tower with a black door charged with an inescutcheon with the quinas.
The tower is implanted on a green surface and is sided by two tall vines. Above the tower there are also two bunches of grapes.
We know for sure that the grapes are white (or rather argent / left flag image), which is quite unusual, even if not unique (see Vinhais). The grapes in purple (central flag image) and in red (right flag image) — both quite often variations (or mistaken renderings) of this coat of arms.
Meaning:
Guessing the meaning of these arms, I’d say that the grapes represent both the traditional products of the region and the name of the town ("dos Vinhos" means "of the wines"), the tower has the same meaning of all other fortifications in Portuguese municipal heraldry, and I believe the inescutcheon with the quinas may mean that this land once was property of the Crown. The name means "rue of the wines" — rue being some kind of traditional herbal spice.
Jorge Candeias, 9 Sep 1998 and António Martins-Tuválkin, 13 June 2000
Arruda dos Vinhos is a town located to the north of Lisbon, in it’s rural “backyard”. The municipality belongs to the district of Lisboa, and old province of Estremadura and (if the administrative division that is currently being discussed here wins) will
belong to the region of Ribatejo e Oeste. The municipality has an area of only 78 km² and a population of less than 9500 inhabitants in four communes. It is a rural municipality, working as a supplier of food to the metropolis to it’s south.
Jorge Candeias, 9 Sep 1998
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