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Yunquera de Henares (Municipality, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain)

Last modified: 2020-02-22 by ivan sache
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Flag of Yunquera de Henares, current and former versions - Images by Ivan Sache, 7 September 2019


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Presentation of Yunquera de Henares

The municipality of Yunquera de Henares (3,755 inhabitants in 2015; 3,122 ha); municipal website) is located 20 km west of Guadalajara.

Yunquera is named for the Latin word luncaria, "a place planted with rushes". The name of the town was completed in 1916 to Yunquera de Henares for the sake of differentiation from other places called Yunquera.
Yunquera was most probably located in the Roman times of the road that connected Emerita Augusta (Mérida) to Caesar Augusta (Zaragoza), via Complutum (Alcalá de Henares), Arriaca (Guadalajara) and Segontia (Sigüenza ). Together with the neighboring town of Hita, Yunquera was reconquered from the Moors in 1081-1085 by Alfonso VI. Three centuries later, the town was mentioned as part of the Community of the Town and Land of Guadalajara. In 1428, Yunquera and another 11 villages were separated from Guadalajara to form the dowry of Infante Catherine, the daughter of John II of Castile, who married Infante Henry, the son of Ferdinand of Aragón. The next year, the town was transferred to the crown, maybe with the status of villa granted by the Infante.
On 18 August 1430, John II confiscated the 12 villages from her sister and offered them to Yñigo López de Mendoza, Marquis of Santillana and head of the powerful Mendoza lineage. Yunquera was transferred in 1491 to a lesser branch of the lineage, the Laso de Mendoza. Francisco Laso de Mendoza, lord of Yunquera from 1502 to 1525, built a palace (today, the Town Hall) and the Renaissance tower of the parish church.

The building of the Henares Canal (1862-1866) and the inauguration of the Madrid-Barcelona-Zaragoza railway initiated the economical development of the town. The farmers purchased in 1941 the arable lands from the Duke of Gor and established modern agriculture.

Ivan Sache, 7 September 2019


Symbols of Yunquera de Henares

The flag of Yunquera de Henares (photo, photo, photo) is prescribed by an Order adopted on 28 February 2007 by the Government of Castilla-La Mancha and published on 13 March 2007 in the official gazette of Castilla-La Mancha, No. 55, p. 6,449 (text).
The flag is described as follows:

Flag: Rectangular panel in proportions 2:3. Red with a yellow and green diagonal stripe running from the hoist's upper angle to the fly's lower angle, in height 1/5 of the total. In the center, the coat of arms of the town.

The flag of Yunquera was originally prescribed by an Order adopted on 10 November 2006 by the Government of Castilla-La Mancha and published on 21 November 2006 in the official gazette of Castilla-La Mancha, No. 242, p. 25,368 (text).
The flag was described as follows:

Flag: Rectangular panel in proportions 2:3, red; with a yellow and green diagonal stripe running from the hoist's upper angle to the fly's lower angle, in height 1/5 of the total.

The coat of arms of Yunquera de Henares is prescribed by an Order adopted on 3 May 1995 by the Government of Castilla-La Mancha and published on 12 May 1995 in the official gazette of Castilla-La Mancha, No. 24, p. 3,101 (text).
The coat of arms is described as follows:

Coat of arms: Per pale, 1. Quarterly per saltire, 1. and 4. Vert a bend gules fimbriated or, 2. and 3. Or the legend "Ave María Gratia Plena" azure on the two quarters, 2. Gules a church tower argent. The shield surmounted by a Royal crown closed.

The first quarter features the arms of the Mendoza, lords of Yunquera since the 15th century. The second quarter features the tower of the parish church (photo) as an identification symbol of the town.
[Jorge Hurtado Maqueda. 2008-2010. Vexilología local en Guadalajara. Wad-al-Hayara: Revista de estudios de Guadalajara 35-37, 475-505 ]

Diego Hurtado de Mendoza y Figueroa (1415/1417-1479), the elder son of Íñigo López de Mendoza, First Marquis of Santillana, was made Duke of the Infantado (full title, "Duque de las Cinco Villas del Estado del Infantado") in 1475; subsequently, the Dukes of the Infantado were made first-rank Grandees of Spain, and were therefore allowed to wear their hat in the presence of the king. Íñigo de Arteaga y Martín (b. 1941) is the 19th Duke of the Infantado.
"Vert a bend gules fimbriated or" are the oldest known arms of Mendoza; subsequently modified several times, the arms always included a red bend on a green field. The arms quartered per saltire were introduced by the first Marquis of Santillana and appear on a seal dated 1440; the marquis quartered his father's arms (Mendoza) with his mother's arms (de la Vega). His descendants were known as Mendoza de Guadalajara or Mendoza de l'Ave María. In the representations of these arms, the first quarter is inscribed with "AVE MARÍA" while the third quarter is inscribed with "PLENA GRATIA" (or, at least "GRATIA").
[José Luis García de Paz (UAM), Los poderosos Mendoza]

The Royal Academy of History rejected a previous proposal of arms, "Per pale Mendoza de la Vega and Luna", representing the 1st Duke of the Infantado and his wife, Brianda de Luna, respectively, whose third son, Garcilosa de Mendoza, was the root of the lords of Yunquera. While admitted in some modern instances, especially with the arms of the Mendoza, adopting for towns the arms of their former lords, without any addition or difference, does not appear to be a good practice. Crowning such arms with a Royal crown generates surprises and oddities. The Academy recommended to add to the proposed arms an element significant of the town. Another possibility, minimally altering the arms of Mendoza and Luna, could be the addition of a bordure. Moreover, the arms of Luna are not represented accurately in the proposed design; they should be "Gules a crescent reverted argent and a base of the same", instead of a shield divided per fess.
[Boletín de la Real Academia de la Historia. 1994. 191:2,403]

Ivan Sache, 7 September 2019