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Mauá, São Paulo State (Brazil)

Last modified: 2012-12-29 by ian macdonald
Keywords: sao paulo | mauá |
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Mauá, SP (Brazil) image by Dirk Schönberger, 7 December 2012
Based on: http://www.maua.sp.gov.br/PerfilMunicipal/SimbolosMunicipais.aspx


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Description of the Flag

Vertically divided white and blue with the municipal arms on the white half.

Official website at http://www.maua.sp.gov.br
Dirk Schönberger, 7 December 2012

The municipality of Mauá (417,281 inhabitants in 2011, 6,230 ha) is located in the São Paulo Metropolitan Area, 30 km south-east of São Paulo.

Mauá's region was known in the early 18th century as Cassaquera, meaning "the old enclosure". The area, sparsely populated, was crossed by the road linking São Paulo to the coast. The small settlement of Pilar developed near a chapel dedicated to Our Lady of the Pillar, built in 1714. In 1856, the railway company in charge of the building of the Santos-Jundiaí line was granted for 90 years to Irineu Evangelista de Souza - the Baron of Mauá (1813-1889), to the Marquis of Monte Alegre and to the Councillor José Antonio Pimenta Bueno (subsequently made Marquis of São Vicente). The São Paulo Railway Co. was incorporated in London and the building of the railway started in May 1860. The Santos-Jundiaí line was eventually inaugurated on 16 February 1867. In 1883, the railway company set up the station of Pilar, renamed Mauá in 1926. Mauá was incorporated to the municipality of Santo André in 1938. The inhabitants decided for the emancipation in a plebiscite organized on 22 November 1953; The municipality was inaugurated on 1 January 1955.

The symbols of Mauá, designed by the heraldist Salvador Thaumaturgo, are prescribed by Municipal Law no. 267 of 20 August 1959.

The flag is vertically divided white-blue, with the municipal coat of arms placed in the middle of the white part. The flag should be made in "filelé" fabric, according to the officially approved template, in proportions 14 x 20.

Photo of the flag, hoisted in front of the town hall: http://www.maua.sp.gov.br/PerfilMunicipal 

On another photo, the coat of arms seem to be placed in the middle of the flag, stretching over both the white and the blue stripes: http://olhomauaense.blogspot.fr/2012/02/frente-da-prefeitura-de-maua-paulo.html 

The coat of arms is "Azure a fess wavy argent in chief a cogwheel or in base a steam locomotive of the same. The shield surmounted by a mural crown or. The shield surrounded by two marble columns proper, standing on a scroll gules inscribed with '1-4-1883 MAUÁ 1-1-1934' in letters or." Blue represents the sky and the mild local climate, and, by analogy, the religious faith of the inhabitants. The cogwheel represents the industrial development of the municipality. The fess wavy represents river Tamanduateí, which rises in Mauá. The locomotive represents the Baron of Mauá, a pioneer of railway transport in Brazil. The mural crown is a symbol of political emancipation. The columns recall the old chapel dedicated to Our Lady of the Pillar, at the origin of the town. The dates on the scroll recall the inauguration of the railway station and the municipal emancipation, respectively.
Ivan Sache, 9 December 2012