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Ogíjares (Municipality, Andalusia, Spain)

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

Presentation of Ogíjares
Symbols of Ogíjares

See also:

Presentation of Ogíjares

The municipality of Ogíjares (12,867 inhabitants in 2008; 700 ha; municipal website) is located 6 km south of Granada.

Archeological excavations have revealed that the site of Ogíjares was already settled in the Neolithic and in the Age of Bronze. The early settlers enjoyed the fertile Granada Plain, watered by river Dílar, while Mt. San Cristóbal provided a place where to withdraw in case of enemy attack. In the Roman times, the place was know as Hortum Sacrum, the "Sacred Garden", therefore a place of worship for the colonists of neighbouring Granada. After the Muslim conquest, Hortum Sacrum was translated into Arabic as Ortexicar, subsequently shortened to Oxijar. The Muslims set up two settlements, Lower- and Upper-Oxijar. At the end of the 15th century, the reconquered villages were merged into a single entity named Los Oxijares; most Muslims left and the place was resettled by Christian colonists, who maintained agriculture. Ogíjares grew slowly until the last two decades (from 5,000 inhabitants in the 1980s to more than 10,000 today), while agriculture declined.

Ivan Sache, 27 June 2009

Symbols of Ogíjares

The flag and arms of Ogíjares, approved on 24 November 2008 by the Municipal Council and submitted on 24 February 2009 to the Directorate General of the Local Administration, are prescribed by a Decree adopted on 5 March 2009 by the Directorate General of the Local Administration and published on 17 March 2009 in the official gazette of Andalusia, No. 52, pp. 58-59 (text).
The symbols are described as follows:

Flag: Rectangular, with proportions 2:3, divided into three vertical stripes, the length of the central stripe being equal to the sum of the lengths of the two other stripes. The first stripe, placed along the hoist, and the third stripe, placed along the fly, are blue; the central stripe, yellow, is charged with the municipal coat of arms.
Coat of arms: Per fess, 1a. Or three fesses azure, 1b. Argent two crescents contourned vert placed per fess in base a pomegranate gules leaved vert, 2. Or an olive tree vert. The shield surmounted by a Royal crown closed.

The first canton recalls the Marquis of Los Messía de la Cerda, also Marquis of Ogíjares. The crescents symbolize the Arab culture. The pomegranate (granada) represents the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada. Olive is the main source of income for the district.
[Símbolos de las Entidades Locales de Andalucía. Granada (PDF file)]

Ivan Sache, 27 June 2009