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Tubarão, Santa Catarina (Brazil)

Last modified: 2021-12-11 by ian macdonald
Keywords: santa catarina | tubarão |
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[Flag of Tubarão, Santa Catarina image by Ivan Sache, 8 November 2021


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Municipality

The municipality of Tubarão (104,937 inhabitants in 2018; 30,176 ha) is located 130 km south-west of Florianópolis.

Tubarão was established in 1774 by Captain João da Costa Moreira. Known as Paragem de Poço Grande (At the Big Well), the place was a meeting point for tropeiros, who traded cheese and jerky brought from the mountain areas for salt, salted fish, flour and cloth brought by shipped from the port of Laguna.
The municipality of Tubarão was established by Law No. 635 promulgated on 27 May 1870, separating from Laguna. The establishment of a railway line by the Dona Thereza Cristina Railway company boosted the development of the town, as did European immigration and coal extraction. The line connecting the stations of Piedade in Tubarão to Minas (today, Lauro Müller) was inaugurated on 1 September 1884 by the Viscount of Barbacena and his English associates. The railway company's central office was established in Tubarão in 1906. This Gilded Age is recalled by the Tubarão Railway Museum, founded in 1997 by medical doctor José Warmuth Teixeira and former railway workers.

Tubarão was named for river Tubarão, itself not named for the Portuguese word "tubarão", "a shark", but for Tupi-Guarani cacique Tuba-Nharõ, lit. Ferocious Dad".
The river proved to be ferocious on 23 March 1974 when a flood claimed 200 lives in the town. Mostly peaceful, the river was celebrated by the writer and journalist Virgílio Várzea (1863-1941) by the famous stance "the river passes, winding, and in its silver trail bathes the blue city", the origin of Tubarão's nickname, Blue City.

http://www.tubarao.sc.gov.br/
Municipal website

Ivan Sache, 8 November 2021


Description of the Flag

A blue flag with a white-black-white saltire with the municipal arms on a white rectangle in the centre.

Official website at http://www.tubarao.sc.gov.br
Dirk Schönberger, 20 August 2012

The flag and arms of Tubarão are prescribed by Municipal Law No. 532 promulgated on 28 April 1971.

Article 6.
The municipal flag of Tubarão, designed by heraldist Arcinoé Antonio Peixote de Faria, is described as: Quartered per saltire, the blue quarters formed by four white stripes placed two by two in the diagonal dimensions starting from the angles of a central white rectangle charged with the municipal coat of arms.

§1. The style of the flag is compliant with the tradition of Portuguese heraldry, of which Brazil inherited the norms and rules; the municipal flags have to be divided in eight, six, four or three parts, using the same colors as in the coat of arms and featuring in the center or at hoist a geometric figure inscribing the municipal coat of arms.
§2. The coat of arms featured on the flag represents the municipal government while the white rectangle inscribing it represents the town proper, as the seat of the municipality. The stripes starting from the angles of the central rectangle and quartering the flag represent the municipal power spreading over all the quarters of the territory. The quarters represent the rural estates scattered over the municipal territory.

Article 7.
In compliance with heraldic rules, the municipal flag shall have the official dimensions prescribed for the national flag, 14 units in width on 20 units in length.

Article 19.
The coat of arms of Tubarão, designed by heraldist Arcimoe Peixoto de Farias, is described in proper heraldic language as follows: Samnite shield surmounted by an eight-towered mural crown argent. On a field azure, a fess wavy argent charged with a shark naiant sable. In chief a fleur-de-lis argent in base an escutcheon or charged with a palm vert surmounted by a lion issuant or surrounded by two electric turbines argent. The shield supported dexter and sinister by maize and rice plants proper interlaced in base supporting a scroll gules inscribed argent the toponym "Tubarão" surrounded by years "1836" and "1870".

§1. The coat of arms shall have the following symbolic interpretation
a) The Samnite shield used to represent the arms of Tubarão was the first style of shield introduced to Portugal by French influence; inherited by Brazilian heraldry, it evokes the colonizing race and main builder of the nation.
b) The mural crown surmounting the shield is the universal symbol of domains' coats of arms; argent (silver) with eight towers, only five of them visible in perspective view, it classifies a town of second rank or county seat.
c) Azure (blue) is the heraldic symbol of justice, nobleness, perseverance, zeal and loyalty.
d) The fess wavy argent (silver) charged with a shark sable (black) makes the arms canting, alluding to the town's namesake, Shark River (Rio Tubarão).
e) The fleur-de-lis argent (silver) evokes the town's patron saint, Our Lady of the Piety.
f) The escutcheon or (gold) charged with a palm vert (green) and surmounted by a lion issuant represents the arms of the Nunes family, as a tribute to the town's founder, João Teixeira Nunes.
g) The electric turbines argent (silver) recall the steam plants established in the municipality that supplied the whole region with electricity.
h) Argent (silver) is a symbol of peace, friendship, work, prosperity, purity and religious spirit; sable (black) means dedication, prudence, knowledge, honesty, moderation and science; or (gold) is a symbol of glory, splendor, greatness, wealth and sovereignty; vert (green) is a symbol of honor, civility, courtesy, abundance and glee; it is also the symbol of hope, which is green since greening fields in spring promise profuse harvests.
i) The maize and rice plants represent the main products of the generous and fertile soil.
j) The scroll gules (red), a color symbol of self-esteem, dedication, audacity, intrepidity, courage and valiance, is inscribed with the toponym "Tubarão" surrounded by the dates of establishment ("1836") and political emancipation ("1870") of the municipality.

https://leismunicipais.com.br/a/sc/t/tubarao/lei-ordinaria/1971/54/532/lei-ordinaria-n-532-1971-dispoe-sobre-a-forma-e-apresentacao-dos-simbolos-do-municipio-de-tubarao-e-da-outras-providencias
Leis Municipais database

The coat of arms was modified by Municipal Law No. 255 promulgated on 19 June 1978. Elements from the original design supported by erroneous etymological interpretation and fanciful historical record were duly suppressed.

Article 19.
Samnite shield surmounted by an eight-towered mural crown argent. On a field azure [...] crossed by four fesses sable in bend and bend sinister. In chief a fleur-de-lis argent in base a winged helmet or superimposed to a turbine argent. The shield supported dexter and sinister by maize and rice plants proper interlaced in base supporting a scroll gules inscribed argent the toponym "Tubarão" and year "1870".

§1. The coat of arms shall have the following symbolic interpretation
a) The Samnite shield used to represent the arms of Tubarão was the first style of shield introduced to Portugal by French influence; inherited by Brazilian heraldry, it evokes the colonizing race and main builder of the nation.
b) The mural crown surmounting the shield is the universal symbol of domains' coats of arms; argent (silver) with eight towers, only five of them visible in perspective view, it classifies a town of second rank or county seat.
c) Azure (blue) is the heraldic symbol of justice, nobleness, perseverance, zeal and loyalty.
d) The fess wavy argent (silver) charged with a native headdress gules and sable makes the arms canting, alluding to the town's namesake, Shark River (Rio Tubarão).
e) The fesses sable in bend and bend sinister represent the roads converging to Tubarão as means of communication.
f) The fleur-de-lis argent (silver) evokes the town's patron saint, Our Lady of the Piety.
g) The winged helmet or, symbol of commerce, recalls Tubarão's main source of income.
h) The electric turbines argent (silver) recall the steam plants established in the municipality that supplied the whole region with electricity.
i) Argent (silver) is a symbol of peace, friendship, work, prosperity, purity and religious spirit; sable (black) means dedication, prudence, knowledge, honesty, moderation and science; or (gold) is a symbol of glory, splendor, greatness, wealth and sovereignty; vert (green) is a symbol of honor, civility, courtesy, abundance and glee; it is also the symbol of hope, which is green since greening fields in spring promise profuse harvests.
j) The maize and rice plants represent the main products of the generous and fertile soil.
k) The scroll gules (red), a color symbol of self-esteem, dedication, audacity, intrepidity, courage and valiance, is inscribed with the toponym "Tubarão" and the date of political emancipation ("1870") of the municipality.

https://leismunicipais.com.br/a/sc/t/tubarao/lei-ordinaria/1991/158/1588/lei-ordinaria-n-1588-1991-altera-a-redacao-do-artigo-19-e-dos-incisos-de-seu-paragrafo-primeiro-constantes-da-lei-n-532-71-que-dispoe-sobre-a-forma-e-apresentacao-dos-simbolos-do-municipio-de-tubarao
Leis Municipais database

The flag in actual use, as opposed to its representation on the municipal logo, shall have a black saltire superimposed to the black saltire, in compliance with Arcinoé Antonio Peixote de Faria's usual designs. The law text, unintelligible regarding the saltire, probably due to an erroneous transcription of the original description, might be the source of the error.

Photos
https://www.facebook.com/camara.tubarao/photos/1978435059113636
https://www.facebook.com/camara.tubarao/photos/2024564327834042

Ivan Sache, 8 November 2021