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Pedroche (Municipality, Andalusia, Spain)

Flag of Pedroche - Image from the Símbolos de Córdoba website, 11 July 2009

Presentation of Pedroche
Symbols of Pedroche

See also:

Presentation of Pedroche

The municipality of Pedroche (1,689 inhabitants in 2008; 12,165 ha; municipal website) is located 100 km north of Córdoba.

Several Prehistoric tombs have been found in Pedroche. Sarcophagi from the Roman times, as well as remains of a way and of a single-arched bridge have also been excavated. In the Middle Ages, Pedroche was mentioned by several Muslim writers as the early nucleus and capital of the community known as the "Seven Towns of the Pedroches" (Pedroche, Añora, Alcaracejos, Pozoblanco, Torremilano, Torrecampo and Villanueva de Córdoba). The representatives of the seven towns met in the chapel of the Virgin of Piedrasantes, built in the 16th century, where their seven wooden banks carved with the names of the seven towns can still be seen. The El Salvador church, built in Gothic Mudéjar style in the 16th century, is one of the most outstanding in the Córdoba Province.

Ivan Sache, 2 August 2009

Symbols of Pedroche

The flag of Pedroche (photo, photo), adopted on 21 April 2004 by the Municipal Council, is prescribed by a Decree adopted on 21 May 2004 by the Directorate General of the Local Administration and published on 17 June 2004 in the official gazette of Andalusia, No. 118, p. 13,429 (text).
The flag is described as follows:

Flag: Rectangular, in proportions 2:3, made of a red panel, charged in the middle with a yellow castle, with blue port and windows, covering 4/5 of the flag's hoist and 2/8 of its length, supported by a wall, also yellow, covering the whole length of the flag and 1/3 of its hoist at the height of the crenellation, both masoned in black. On the flanks of the castle in the middle of the available space are three eight-pointed white stars, forming an equilateral triangle, two above one, 1/10 the flag hoist, over the donjon of the castle is placed another star similar to the other ones.

The flag of Pedroche was officially unveiled on 30 April 2004 during a ceremony held af the chapel of Santa María del Castillo. The flag was presented and explained by the official Chronicler of the village, Francisco Sicilia. The red field of the flag represents love, attraction and commitment of the villagers to their land. Taken from the coat of arms, the castle and walls recall the fortress that was destroyed by the partisans of Juana la Beltraneja during the war for the succession of the throne of Castile. The seven stars recall the community of the "Seven Towns of the Pedroches". Their white colour represents the purity of the natural environment of Pedroche. [Diario Córdoba, 2 May 2004).
The flag, proposed by the Francisco Sicilia and two members of the Institute for Heraldic and Genealogic Studies of Extremadura, Pedro Cordero and Abelardo Muñoz, was approved by the municipal majority (PSOE) while the opposition (PP) rejected it. [Diario Córdoba, 2 January 2004).

The coat of arms of Pedroche, adopted on 29 June 1994 by the Municipal Council, is prescribed by Decree No. 245 adopted on 10 October 1995 by the Government of Andalusia and published on 29 November 1995 in the official gazette of Andalusia, No. 153, p. 11,277 (text). This was confirmed by a Decree adopted on 30 November 2004 by the Government of Andalusia and published on 20 December 2004 in the official gazette of Andalusia, No. 246, pp. 28,986-29,002 (text).
The coat of arms is described as follows:

Coat of arms: Gules a castle or port and windows azure masoned sable on a wall or masoned sable. The shield surmounted by a Royal crown closed.

The castle and the wall represent the fortified town mentioned by El Idrisi as Bitraweh, as "well built, well innabited and equipped with high towers". The town was conquered from the Moors in 1155 by King Alfonso VII.
[Símbolos de las Entidades Locales de Andalucía. Córdoba (PDF file)]

The coat of arms, designed by Amador Rubio Molina, is based on an older designed already reported by Espinalt (late 18th century). On those designs, the style of the shield is "atypical", the gate of the castle is horse-shoe-shaped and there is no fortification wall. The shield has a bordure of eight pieces, the one in base with awriting and the seven other with charges recalling the Seven Villages of Los Pedroches.
[Juan José Antequera Lungo. Heráldica oficial de la provincia de Córdoba].

Ivan Sache, 12 April 2014