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Manzanal del Barco (Municipality, Castilla y León, Spain)

Last modified: 2015-01-17 by ivan sache
Keywords: manzanal del barco | zamora |
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[Flag]

Flag of Manzanal del Barco - Image by Ivan Sache, 11 May 2011


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Presentation of Manzanal del Barco

The municipality of Manzanal del Barco (156 inhabitants in 2010; 1,241 ha) is located in the Zamora Province, 30 km from Zamora.

Ivan Sache, 11 May 2011


Symbols of Manzanal del Barco

The flag and arms of Manzanal del Barco are prescribed by a Decree adopted on 9 February 1994 by the Zamora Provincial Government, signed on 4 March 1994 by the President of the Government, and published on 17 March 1994 in the official gazette of Castilla y León, No. 53 (text).
The symbols are described as follows:

Flag: Rectangular. Made of five horizontal stripes of equal height, from top to bottom, red, white, green, white and red.
Coat of arms: Per pale, 1. Or an apple tree (manzano) eradicated proper fructed gules, 2. Azure a boat (barco) proper on waves argent and azure. The shield surmounted with a Royal Spanish crown.

The flag (municipal website) has the colors of the traditional banner (pendón) of the village's parish church. The old banner is mentioned in several documents from the 19th century as used during popular religious festivals. On 20 May 1862, following a long period of drought, Manzanal del Barco co-organized with the neighboring villages a Rogations procession dedicated to the Árboles Virgin (Carbajales); the parish priest and the municipal council led the procession, which included the banner and the statue of the Virgin. Also used in the inauguration of all the main festivals in the village, the banner was described as red, white and green. Moreover, red recalls the flag of the town and province of Zamora. White is the Marian color, recalling that the Piñedo Virgin is the patron saint of Manzanal. Red and white are the colors of Castile and León.
A photo (municipal website) shows the flag hoisted on the balcony of the Town Hall. Another photo shows the flag, without context elements, with the municipal coat of arms in the middle (which is not prescribed in the Decree).

The coat of arms (municipal website) is canting. The apple tree (manzano) refers to Manzanal; the banks of river Esla grown with apple trees are known as "El Manzano". A boat (barco) was operated to cross the Esla since the Middle Ages. The boat was of specific use for transhumant sheep; in 1526, the Zamora Council, on the shepherds' behalf, sued the Count of Alba y Aliste, owner of the rights on the boat. Some documents indicate that there were at least two boats and even a river port in Manzanal.

Ivan Sache, 28 April 2011