Last modified: 2022-03-05 by ian macdonald
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The municipality of Contenda (15,892 inhabitants in 2010; 29,904 ha) is
located 50 km south-west of Curitiba.
The flag and arms of Contenda are
prescribed by Municipal Law No. 189 promulgated on 25 November 1970.
Article 6.
The municipal flag of Contenda is divided in blue quarters, formed
by four yellow stripes superimposed with green stripes, placed two by two per
bend and per bend sinister, starting from the angles of a central white
rectangle inscribing the municipal coat of arms.
The style of the municipal
flag of Contenda obeys the Portuguese heraldic tradition, of which Brazil
inherited tha canons and rules; among different styles (divided in eight, six,
four or three parts), the quartered was selected, that is, formed by stripes
that link the flag's cantons and cross in the center, where is applied a
rectangle charged with the coat of arms.
The coat of arms in the center of
the flag symbolizes the municipal government while the rectangle inscribing it
represents the town proper, as the seat of the municipality. The stripes
symbolize the municipal power spreading to all the parts of the territory while
the quarters represent the rural properties existing on the municipal territory.
Article 19.
The coat of arms of the municipality of Contenda was
elaborated in compliance with the rules of heraldry by illustrious citizens of
Contenda, who supplied ideas, opinions and elements of composition that
symbolize the town's origin, formation, structure and evolution; through its
graphic components and visual message, the coat of arms is an egregious symbol
that will officially represent the municipality and its constitutive powers.
The shield is of the Samnite style, surmounted by a republican mural crown
with five towers argent. The field is argent, divided into four representative
sectors by a yellow cross, the upper sectors smaller than the lower ones, each
of them featuring a determined symbolic expression.
The shield's lateral
shadowing is blue, also used in the scroll to inscribe the toponym surrounded by
dates "14/11/51" and "14/12/52". The shield is supported by green and yellow
cereal plants, right, maize, and left, wheat.
The symbolic interpretation
is the following.
a) The Samnite shield used to represent the arms of
Contenda was the type of shield used by the Samnite people in old Italy and
served much later as a model from French heraldry, which influenced the
Portuguese style, introduced to Brazil since then.
b) The mural crown
surmounting the shield is the universal symbol of domains' coats of arms in
republican countries; argent (silver), with five towers, only three of them
visible in perspective view, it indicates the seat of a municipality.
c)
Argent is the heraldic symbol of peace, friendship, prosperity and purity.
d)
The golden yellow cross represents the maximum expression of the Christian faith
of Contenda's people. [...] Golden yellow is a symbol of glory, splendor,
wealth, greatness and command.
e) In the upper left quarter, the cart
represents the past and the numerous predecessors of Contenda's people, who made
possible with time, through their anonymous and silent force, the existence of
the present-day's modern and progressive town.
f) In the upper right quarter,
a modern tractor is rooted both in the present and the future, offering a
symbiosis with its precursor, the cart.
g) The lower left quarters features
two symbols strongly defining Contenda's agricultural structure, the main one
being the unlimited perspective of a field cropped with potatoes, a predominant
crop in the regional economy. Green foliage represents beautiful and generous
harvests. In the upper part of the same quarter, a rising sun symbolizes the
warmth of hope and the eternal fire of the municipality's fertility.
h) The
lower right quarter features three standards named "União-Trabalho-Progresso"
[Union-Work-Progress] interlaced by rings [...]
i) The outer ornaments, maize
and wheat plants proper, represent two of the main crops supplied by the
generous and fertile soil.
j) The scroll azure, the heraldic symbol of
justice, nobleness, perseverance, zeal and loyalty, is inscribed argent with the
toponym "Contenda" surrounded by dates of political emancipation ("14/11/51")
and inauguration ("1'/12/52").
https://contenda.pr.gov.br/pagina/77_Hino-e-Simbolos-Municipais.html
Municipal website
Photo
https://www.facebook.com/prefeituradecontenda/photos/4506962416051144
Ivan Sache, 1 February 2022