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Salteras (Municipality, Andalusia, Spain)

Flag of Salteras - Image from the Símbolos de Sevilla website, 28 May 2014

Presentation of Salteras
Symbols of Salteras

See also:

Presentation of Salteras

The municipality of Salteras (5,449 inhabitants in 2013; 5,746 ha; municipal website) is located 15 km north-west of Seville.

Salteras keeps in its parish church keeps the tombstone of Susana Flamula, dated from the Visigothic period. The stone and a sekeleton were found in 1612 by the farmer Juan Sánchez Bermejo in his Los Villares vineyard. The parish church read the inscription "famula dei" (God's servant) on the stone. The church further stated that the remains and the stone belonged to Susana Flamula, martyred in 571 at the age of 41 during the Arian heresy. THe bishop of Seville ordered the transfer of the uncorrupte body to the parish church of Salteras, where it was covered with the old tombstone.

Salteras is the birth place of Francisca Pérez Cerpa (1765-1815), The mother of seven sons, she shouted out the geernal commanding the Spanish troops crossing the towns, asking him to enroll her threee elder sons in the troops loyal to the King of Spain, offering to pay herself for the cost of the enrollment. Made aware of the event, the government and the Cádiz Parliament awarded her with a yearly rent and the honorific title of Colonel.

Ivan Sache, 28 May 2014

Symbols of Salteras

The flag of Salteras (photo), adopted on 28 September 1988 by the Municipal Council and validated on 30 June 1989 by the Royal Academy of History, is prescribed by Decree No. 8, adopted on 17 January 1990 by the Government of Andalusia and published on 20 February 1990 in the official gazette of Andalusia, No. 16, p. 1,081 (text). This was confirmed by a Decree adopted on 30 November 2004 by the Directorate General of the Local Administration and published on 20 December 2004 in the official gazette of Andalusia, No. 246, pp. 28,986-29,002 (text).
The flag is prescribed as follows:

Flag: Three horizontal stripes of the same dimension, green, white, and blue, charged in the center with the local coat of arms.

The coat of arms of Salteras is prescribed by a Decree adopted on 2 September 1986 by the Government of Andalusia and published on 26 September 1986 in the official gazette of Andalusia, No. 89, p. 3,078 (text). This was confirmed by a Decree adopted on 30 November 2004 by the Directorate General of the Local Administration and published on 20 December 2004 in the official gazette of Andalusia, No. 246, pp. 28,986-29,002 (text).
The coat of arms is prescribed as follows:

Coat of arms: Quarterly, 1. Azure a Roman altar argent, 2. Or an image of the Virgin of the Olive, 3. Azure the arms of the Guzmán lineage, 4. Argent an olive tree vert. A bordure gules inscribed with "CALLE, GUARDA Y COLLACIÓN DE SEVILLA" in letters or. The shield surmounted by a Royal crown closed.

Until 1986, Salteras used a coat of arms in French style, portraying on a field or the Virgin of the Olive holding Baby Jesus in the left arm and a branch of olive in the right arm. The bordure was inscribed with "Ayuntamiento de Salteras (Seville)" while the shield was surmounted by a Royal crown open.
The new coat of arms was designed by Manuel Troncoso Jurado. The design approved on 17 September 1985 by the Municipal Council showed the Marian monogram. The Royal Academy of History considered the organization of the arms "acceptable, although, maybe, many-coloured". The Academy recommended to suppress, for the sake of clarity and simplicity, the grapevine and wheat spike from tha altar and the branches of laurel surrounding the Marian anagram, whose meaning was not explained. The marquis' cornet had to be substituted by a Royal crown closed. The Academy eventually proposed revised arms as: "Quarterly, 1. Azure a Roman altar argent, 2. Or the monogram of the Virgin of the Olive, 3. The arms of the Guzmán lineage, 4. Argent an olive tree vert. A bordure gules inscribed with "CALLE, GUARDA Y COLLACIÓN DE SEVILLA" in letters or. The shield surmounted by a Royal crown closed." The amended proposal appproved on 22 May 1986 by the Municipal Council susbtituted the image of the Virgin to her monogram.
The very first proposed arms were "Per pale, 1. Vert the Marian monogram argent ensigned by a branch of olive of the same, 2. Azure two caldrons or fimbriated gules voided sable a bordure argent and five ermine spots sable (recalling, in an imperfest manner, the arms the Count-Duke of Olivares). A bordure or inscribed with "CALLE, GUARDA Y COLLACIÓN DE SEVILLA" in letters sable. The shield surmounted by a Royal crown open."

The altar in the first quarter is a symbol of the Roman past of the town. The altar, bearing an inscription now illegible, is described by Rodrigo Caro (Adiciones al Principado y Antigüedades de la ciudad de Sevilla y su Convento Jurídico, 17th century) and Enrique Flórez (España Sagrada, 18th century). The inscription reports the funeral of the duumvir of Pesula, which was identified to Salteras by the two erudites, after Ptolemy's Geography. The second quarter portrays the patron saint of the town, documented since the beginning of the 17th century. The arms of the Guzmán lineage recall that Salteras was acquired in 1641 by the Count-Duke of Olivares, Gaspar de Guzmán. The fourth quarter represents the past and present main source of income for the town. The bordure recalls the privilege granted in 1443 by King John II. According to Antonio Herrea García, the Council of Seville attempted several times to cancel the privilege, especially the exemption of tax on wines, to no avail.
[Juan José Antequera Luengo. Heráldica oficial de la provincia de Sevilla]

Ivan Sache & Klaus-Michael Schneider, 28 May 2014