^{This page is part of © FOTW Flags Of The World website}

Sacedón (Municipality, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain)

Flag of Sacedón - Image by "Nethunter",Wikimedia Commons

Presentation of Sacedón
Symbols of Sacedón

See also:

Presentation of Sacedón

The municipality of Sacedón (1,519 inhabitants in 2018; 11,328 h; municipal website) is located on the border with the Province of Cuenca, 50 km south-east of Guadalajara. The municipality is composed of the town of Sacedón and of the village of Córcoles.

Sacedón was first mentioned in 1167 as Salcedon, a typical Castilian name formed on sauce, "a willow". The local tradition says that a pre-Roman town named Alce exited on the municipal territory; Celtiberian remains were indeed found in Alto de San Julián and El Pozuelo.
Sacedón was granted the status of villa in 1553 by Charles I. In 1655, Philip IV sold Sacedón to Rodrigo de Silva, 4th Duke of Pastrana and 8th Duke of the Infantado folowing his marriage with Catalina Sandoval y Mendoza. The status of villa was confirmed in 1742 by Philip V.
In 1811, during the Peninsular War, General Juan Martín Díez (1775-1825), aka El Empecinado (The Undaunted), seized Sacedón. The next year, he expelled the French troops from the so-called Roman bridge (indeed erected in 1461 over river Tagus).

The mineral sources located on the right bank of river Guadiela were named in 1825 Royal Site of La Isabela and Baths of Sacedón, as a tribute to (Maria) Isabel of Braganza (1797-1818), Ferdinand VII's second wife. The site was flooded after the set up of the Buendía man-made lake, its ruins being visible during drought periods. The set up of the Entrepeñas and Buendía man-made lakes on the course of river Tagus have transformed Sacedón in a popular leisure resort.

Córcoles was granted in 1167 by its lord, Juan de Trevés, to the Cistercian Order, which established there the Monsalud monastery, one of the four foundations of the Order in the Province of Guadalajara.

The Entrepeñas and Buendía lakes are part of the so-called Castilian Sea. Francisco Pérez Torrecilla, Mayor of Sacedón and President of the Association of the Municipalities on Entrepeñas and Buendía Lakes, bitterly criticized the transfer of wtaer from Tagus to Levante via river Segura. As a consequence, the volume of Lake Buendía was reduced from 1,639 to 299 hm³, while the volume of Lake Entrepeñas was reduced from 835 to 287 hm³. The Mayor considers that the transfer is the main cause of the increasing depopulation of the neighboring towns: in less than ten years, Sacedón lost 20% of its inhabitants. Several houses located close to the lakes are offered for sale while more than 50% of the housing offers have been lost.
[ABC, 15 April 2019]

Ivan Sache, 7 September 2019

Symbols of Sacedón

The flag of Sacedón (photo) is yellow with a red triangle placed along the hoist and reaching the flag's center, superimposed by a white triangle placed at hoist and reaching 1/4 of the flag's length.
The origin and meaning of the flag are unknown.
[Jorge Hurtado Maqueda. 2008-2010. Vexilología local en Guadalajara. Wad-al-Hayara: Revista de estudios de Guadalajara 35-37, 475-505]

The coat of arms of Sacedón is prescribed by Decree No. 62, issued on 11 June 1985 by the Government of Castilla-La Mancha and published on 18 June 1985 in the official gazette of Castilla-La Mancha, No. 24, p. 1,035 (text).
The coat of arms is described as follows:

Coat of arms: Per fess, 1. Gules on rocks argent a fortified wall surrounded by two towers and protected by a gate all or, 2. Or two laurel crowns vert in fess The shield surmounted by a Royal crown closed.

The Royal Academy of History "maintained" the proposed coat of arms, which is based on a seal "of centenary use", as evidenced by "thorough research".
[Boletín de la Real Academia de la Historia 182:2, 369. 1985]

The meaning of the coat of arms is obscure. The upper part might represent the kingdom of Castile, to which the town was incorporated after the Christian reconquest. The laurel crowns are, undoubtedlky, a honorific reward for loyalty to the crown of Castile, maybe in the 18th century during the War of the Spanish Succession.
[Los Escritos de Herrera Casado, 14 July 1989]

Ivan Sache, 7 September 2019