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Nívar (Municipality, Andalusia, Spain)

Flag of Nívar - Image from the Símbolos de Granada website, 14 May 2014

Presentation of Nívar
Symbols of Nívar

See also:

Presentation of Nívar

The municipality of Nívar (869 inhabitants in 2008; 1,100 ha; municipal website) is located in the Sierra de la Yiedra, 15 km north of Granada. The Granada Mirador, with a scenic view on Granada and the Sierra Nevada, is located on the municipal territory of Nívar.

The local tradition says that the name of Nívar is related to the Carthaginian ruler Hannibal; in Moorish times, the place was indeed called Hannibal or Hisn Nibal, "Castle Nibal". Another possible, more probable etymology is related to the Latin word nivalis,"snowy". In the Moorish times, irrigation allowed the set up of an alquería (estate); located near the border with the Kingdom of Castile, the place was protected by a castle built on the Cerro del Castillejo spur, locally known as La Peña de Bartolo. Nívar was fiercely disputed during the Christian reconquest.

Ivan Sache, 22 July 2009

Symbols of Nívar

The flag and arms of Nívar, approved on 7 November 2005 by the Municipal Council and submitted on 21 November 2005 to the Directorate General of the Local Administration, are prescribed by a Decree adopted on 30 November 2005 by the Directorate General of the Local Administration and published on 16 December 2005 in the official gazette of Andalusia, No. 244, p. 50 (text).
The symbols are described as follows:

Flag: Rectangular panel, in proportions 2:3, horizontally divided in two equal stripes, the upper white and the lower red, with the municipal coat of arms in the center of the panel.
Coat of arms: Per pale, 1. Argent a castle or in chief a pomegranate proper faceted gules slipped vert in base, 2. Azure a mount argent surmounted with a cross or on waves argent and azure. The shield surmounted with a Royal crown closed.

The castle alludes to the Arab etymology of the name of the place. The pomegranate (granada) represents the Province of Granada. The mount symbolizes the local topography. The cross stands for the Holy Cross Festival celebrated every year on 3 May.
[Símbolos de las Entidades Locales de Andalucía. Granada (PDF file)]

Ivan Sache, 27 June 2009