Last modified: 2001-10-24 by antonio martins
Keywords: oporto | porto | coat of arms (saint mary) | saint mary | vendôme | jesus | castle (yellow) | angel | sig civitatis virginis | harbour | dragon | invicta |
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![[Oporto municipality]](../images/p/pt-prt.gif)
The current municipal flag of Oporto (Porto): gyronny of eight, green
and white, with the municipal coat of arms overall. This is: azure, by
a sea of four wavy fesses vert and argent, and on a castle or, open gules,
the Holly Virgin Mary of Vendôme, dressed gules, covered azure, holding
Jesus Child dressed argent, both nimbused or, betweent two eschuteons
charged with Portugal ancient. A mural crown
of five apparent towers (city rank), the
collar of the Sword and Tower Order, and a
scroll reading the most magnificent of all portuguese municipal mottoes:
"ANTIGA, MUI NOBRE, SEMPRE LEAL E INVICTA CIDADE DO PORTO",
meaning «Ancient, most noble, always loyal and undefeated city of Oporto».
António Martins, 30 Apr 1998 and 06 Mar 1999
The current coat of arms is based on the ancient grant of 8 May 1354, (back
then used in the city seal, not as flag nor shield) wich was: Two towers; in
the center, on a basis and over an open door in the wall, the Virgin of
Vendôme, between two angels, under a scroll with motto in fraktur script:
"SIG-CIVITATIS-VIRGINIS".
António Martins, 30 Apr 1998
The quartered version (Portugal
over Oporto) was a much later invention (of January 14th 1837), and was swept
away during the years 1935-1940.
António Martins, 30 Apr 1998
This is the third largest in Portugal (in population terms), with
249 180 inhabitants, in only 42 km2, divided in 12 communes.
It is the head of [Greater] Oporto, the second largest conurbation in Portugal,
with 1,5 million inhabitants, and lies on the right bank of the mouth of river
Douro. It is one of the municipalities of the Oporto
district (old province of Douro Litoral). It’s name,
"porto", means "harbour" and from it stemmed the name of Portugal itself,
from meadieval latin "Portus Cale", this Cale being currently the city of
[Vila Nova de] Gaia, in the left river bank.
António Martins, 06 Mar 1999
The english form "Oporto" originated from the contraction of "O Porto"
("the harbour"), but this "O" is not part of the city name (like it is
in other neolatin names like "Le Havre", "La Guardia" or "La Spezia"); it was
a misunderstanding of the funny portuguese habit of using definite articles
with propper nouns in normal speech.
António Martins, 06 Mar 1999
The previous coat of arms of the Oporto municipality is used nowadays in the
logo of Futebol Clube do Porto and seen on a number
of older sources. It consists of a samnitic shield, quartered, with the
portuguese arms in the I and IV, and with the Oporto (current and ancient) arms
in the II and the III, and an eschuteon, red, chaged with a golden heart, all
crowned with an earl (?) crown topped with a green dragon holding a scroll reading
"INVICTA" (undefeated), and surrounded by the collar of
the Order of Tower and Sword.
António Martins, 30 Apr 1998
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