Castro Marim Municipality (Portugal)

Last modified: 2010-08-13 by antónio martins
Keywords: castro marim | coat of arms: castle | keys: 2 (crossed) | cross: templar (portuguese) | corss: chris knights’ order | head: moor | hread: king | castle (red) | waves: 2 |
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• About the flag
• Version without the coat of arms
• Presentation of Castro Marim

• Municipalities of Portugal
• Portugal

• Page about the municipal flag and coat of arms of Castro Marim at Sérgio Horta’s website (in Portuguese).
  reported by Jorge Candeias, 29 Feb 1999
• Page about Castro Marim at the Portuguese Municipalities’s Association website (incl. image of the arms)
  reported by António Martins, 18 Nov 2001

About the flag

It is a fairily typical portuguese municipal flag, with the coat of arms centered on a red and black quarterly (town rank) background. Flag and arms adopted and published in the official journal Diário do Governo : I Série in 1937.09.21.
António Martins, 07 May 2007

Coat of arms

The arms are Or a castle Gules masoned Sable and open and litten of the first upon upon a fess Vert and flanked at dexter by a Templar (orbicular) cross and at sinister by a Christ Knights’ Order cross and under a pair of keys Sable set in saltire pointing upwards flanked at dexter by a Christian king’s head and at sinister by a Moorish king’s head (see about it) and a campaign Argent charged with two wavy fesses Azure. Mural crown argent with four visible towers (town rank) and white scroll reading in black upper case letters "VILA DE CASTRO MARIM".
António Martins, 07 May 2007 and 08 May 2007

The wavy fesses stand surely for river Guadiana, which makes the eastern border of this municipality, facing Spain. The two heads are a regional symbol, shared by most Algarve subnational coats of arms. The crosses stand for the local importance of both orders. The castle stands for the actual castle of Castro Marim (which is not red), and may also be a canting element along with the waves, for "castro marim" means in Portuguese (though using two archaic words) "marsh castle". No idea about the keys, though.
António Martins, 08 May 2007

Version without the coat of arms

Plain (monocolored) portuguese subnational flags are not allowed to have armless variations: plain flags always carry the coat of arms.
Jorge Candeias, 18 Jul 1999

Presentation of Castro Marim

Castro Marim municipality had 6593 inhabitants in 2001 and consists of 4 communes covering 299,83 km². It is part of Faro District, traditional province, 1999 ref. adm. region, current C.C.R. / NUTS II, and NUTS III Algarve.
António Martins, 07 May 2007

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