Last modified: 2002-07-13 by joe mcmillan
Keywords: brazil | minas gerais | paraisopolis | cross (red) | cross (white) | lozenge (white) | coat of arms |
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by Joseph McMillan
The flag is blue with a white cross overlaid with a red cross. The coat of
arms is placed on a white lozenge upon a white square on the center. The
coat of arms is "azure on an inescutcheon or a lily proper, the inescutcheon
supported by two cherubim argent; in base on a "mantel" or a
cattleman's-style hunting horn gules." I'm not
sure what a mantel is in English heraldic language; it is like a division
per chevron, but with concave dividing lines. The inescutcheon
represents St. Joseph, patron of the city and the cherubim the constant
winds in the mountain region, the whole being a canting charge for the
original name of the settlement, São José da Ventania (St. Joseph of the
Winds). The blue field is said to represent the heavens or, more precisely,
the paradise of the city's name. The yellow "mantel" represents the
mountains and the horn represents stock-raising. (In addition, the colors
are given the customary catalogue of "heraldic" significances.) The
supporters are two branches of coffee, while the scroll is inscribed with
the name of the municipality, the dates that it was established (25
January 1873), and the date that its surrounding judicial circuit (comarca) was
established (3 December 1884).
Joseph McMillan, 18 March 2002
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