Last modified: 2002-11-09 by joe mcmillan
Keywords: rio de janeiro | brazil | barra mansa | coat of arms | stripe (horizontal) | stripe (blue) | arrows: 3 (gold) |
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Joseph McMillan
The flag of Barra Mansa is a horizontal triband, white-blue-white, with a
large municipal coat of arms overall. The coat of arms was adopted on 16
September 1970 by Deliberation No. 1045. In the first quarter, on a field
purpure (dark red) are three gold
arrows in honor of St. Sebastian, under whose patronage the town was
founded. The arrows are stated to be the instruments of St. Sebastian's martyrdom,
although St. Sebastian's legendary miracle is having survived being shot with arrows;
he was then beaten to death. The "purple" field is said to be the color of Roman
authority, a reference to Sebastian's having been a Roman soldier. In the
second quarter is a landscape showing the confluence of the Barra Mansa River and the Paraíba do Sul River,
between the Serra do Mar and Serra da Mantiqueira mountains--the geographic
feature from which the municipality takes its name. The third quarter is
parted per fess of three pieces, yellow, white, and yellow, with symbols
representing agriculture (a plow), stock-raising (a cow), and industry (a
gear). In the fourth quarter, on a blue field, is a shield of the Order of
Christ ensigned with a baron's helmet, in honor of Custódio Ferreira Leite,
Baron de Aiuruoca, donor of the glebe of the Chapel of St. Sebastian on
which the settlement was first built. The baron's own arms are not known,
but a portrait of him is adorned with the cross of the order. The motto is
Pax - Ivs - Labor (Peace, justice, labor). The shield
is surrounded by a stalk of sugarcane and a coffee branch.
Source:
www.brancow.hpg.ig.com.br/brasao.htm
Joseph McMillan, 30 July 2002
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