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

Mazariegos (Municipality, Castilla y León, Spain)

Last modified: 2015-01-17 by ivan sache
Keywords: mazariegos |
Links: FOTW homepage | search | disclaimer and copyright | write us | mirrors



[Flag]

Flag of Mazariegos - Image by "HansenBCN" (Wikimedia Commons), 14 February 2014


See also:


Presentation of Mazariegos

The municipality of Mazariegos (249 inhabitants in 2012; 2,524 ha; municipal website) in the southwest of the Palencia Province, 20 km from Palencia.

Mazariegos was named for the anthroponym Mazarefos or Matarife. The "castro de Mazarefes" and the "osoma de Mazarefes" were mentioned in the 10th century. The village was chartered on 12 September 1179 by King Alfonso VIII, the privilege being confirmed by the subsequent kings. In the middle of the 13th century, Mazarigos belonged to Rodrigo I, Bishop of Palencia. The village was incorporated to the Royal Domain in 1562 by Philip II.

Ivan Sache, 14 February 2014


Symbols of Mazariegos

The flag (image) and arms of Mazariegos (former municipal website) are prescribed by a Decree adopted on 29 April 2002 by the Municipal Council, signed on 16 May 2002 by the Mayor, and published on 14 June 2002 in the official gazette of Castilla y León, No. 114, p. 8,022 (text).
The symbols are described as follows:

Flag: Quadrangular, In proportions 1:1, with horizontal stripes blue, green and yellow. In the middle is placed the municipal coat of arms, in full colours.
Coat of arms: In Spanish shape. Per pale, 1. Azure a crozier argent surmounted with a crown open of the same, 2. Vert a rider (Mazarefos) or. Grafted in base or a cross flory gules. The shield surmounted with a Royal Spanish crown.

The Mayor of Mazariegos proposed on 5 April 1985 the adoption of a coat of arms to the Municipal Council, which approved on 10 June 1985 a motion establishing a commission to investigate whether the municipality ever used such a symbol. On 25 June 1985, the commission presented the report submitted by "Investigaciones Heráldicas": an extensive search at the Royal Academy of History, National Historical Archives, Diocese Archives, and Royal Chancellery could not dig out any historical coat of arms for Mazariegos.
The first coat of arms of Mazariegos was prescribed by a Decree adopted on 8 April 1986 by the Municipal Council, validated on 12 November 1986 by the Government of Castilla y León, and published on 17 December 1986 in the official gazette of Castilla y León, No. 146 (text).
The coat of arms is described as follows:

Coat of arms: Per pale, 1. Azure a bishop's crozier and sword argent per pale, 2. Vert, three mallets [mazos] or. Grafted in base or a cross flory gules. The shield surmounted with a Royal Spanish crown.

The crozier and staff recall that the village once belonged to the Bishop of Palencia. The crown recalls it subsequently belonged to the Royal domain. The cross must represent the Mazariegos lineage, once among the influent parties in Zamora and gloriously involved in the reconquest of Andalusia. The three mallets make the arms canting, recalling the popular etymology of the village's name.

The coat of arms was re-designed in 2002 by Faustino Narganes, together with the brand new flag.
The mallets were removed since the etymology based on mozo is fanciful. The link of the Zamora-based Mazariegos family with the village of Mazariegos is not backed up by firm evidence; however, Narganes recommended to keep the cross to respect the tradition and maintain continuity with the first coat of arms of the village. To summarize the feudal history of the village, Narganes suppressed the bishop's sword and added a Royal crown open surmounting the bishop's crozier.

Dov Gutterman, Ned Smith, Santiago Dotor & Ivan Sache, 14 February 2014