Last modified: 2002-03-23 by joe mcmillan
Keywords: brazil | mato grosso do sul | mundo novo | tower | river | mary |
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by António Martins-Tuválkin
The flag is an unequal horizontal triband of white, red, and white, the red stripe being double the width of the white ones. Centered on it, a white disk with a diameter identical to the red stripe's height, therefore touching both of the white stripes. On the disk, the local coat of arms. The arms are, set on a Samnitic shield, gules a tower argent with door, windows and dome azure, the dome topped by a cross of the same metal, in base three wavy fesses argent; chief azure the letter "M" interlaced with a cross, and above it two unidentified charges in fess, all argent, encircled by 12 stars of the same. Mural crown with five visible towers, a branch of coffee for dexter supporter and two branches of soy for sinister supporter, and a red scroll reading "13-5-1976 MUNDO NOVO 1-2-1977" in white sans-serif capitals.
The municipal webpage gives gives the usual pompous and meaningless interpretation of the elements of the flag and arms, though some real information can also be extracted: soy and coffee are the main local products; this municipality was created on 13 May 1976, and on 1 February 1977 occurred a "solemn instalation" (mayor got sworn in, etc., I guess). The two wavy fesses stand for the rivers Iguatemi and Paraná (obviously the image at the site--and thus mine-- has the middle, third "fess" wrongly colored in white: it should be red, as it is simply part of the background showing through. I wonder what real Mundo Novo flags look like.
The white tower comes from the Saldanha family arms. The emblem on the chief is a type of Marian seal, namely the symbolic attribute of Our Lady of the Graces, the municipal patron, engraved on a medal claimed to have been given by St. Mary herself to St. Catherine Labouré.
On the flag, the red color is interpreted as the color of the local soil, plus the usual pseudo-heraldic meanings of color, which I will spare you. Finally it should be said that mundo novo means "new world".
António Martins-Tuválkin, 22 December 2001
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