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Campanario (Municipality, Extremadura, Spain)

Last modified: 2020-10-11 by ivan sache
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[Flag]

Flag of Campanario - Image by Ivan Sache, 14 March 2020


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Presentation of Campanario

The municipality of Campanario (4,896 inhabitants in 2019; 25,732 ha; municipal website) is located 150 km east of Badajoz and 20 km south-east of Villanueva de la Serena. The municipality is composed of the town of Campanario and of the village of La Guarda (69 inh.).

Campanario was first settled in the Chalcolithic, as evidenced by remains of lithic industry found in the valley of stream El Molar, especially near the El Paredón dam. Petroglyphs from the same period were found in Gamitas and Los Barrancos.
The fortified building of La Mata (website) is one of the most representative elements of Extremaduran protohistory. The U-shaped building, of some 6 m in height, is topped by two towers and surrounded by a ditch. The monument is dated from the 6th-5th centuries BC, with some addition at the Roman period.
In the Roman times, according to Ortiz de Tovar, Campanario was the site of a town called Valeria. Remains from the reigns of August to Theodosius were found in several perts of the municipal territory. The fortified tower of La Portugalesa was erected between the first quarter of the 1st century BC and the end of the 1st century AD.<+P>

Campanario was first mentioend in 1333 in a document referring to the purchase of mills located on river Zújar by Alvar Pérez, Commander of Magacela for the Order of Alcántara. The name of the town might have been derived from campo ario ("dry field) or campo erario ("iron field"), or have refered to a chapel with a bell tower (campanario) disappeared long ago.
Campanario was granted the status of villa in 1525 by Philip IV, separating from Magacela.

Ivan Sache, 14 March 2020


Flag of Campanario

The flag of Campanario was adopted on 8 February 2018 by the Municipal Council, as stated in an Announcement signed on 12 February 2018 by the Mayor and published on 23 January 2018 in the official gazette of Extremadura, No. 39, p. 7,925 (text).
Different proposals submitted by a specialist in vexillology were presented to Bartolomé Díaz, Chronicler of the town, and to the Valeria Cultural Fund, which had been involved in the adoption of the municipal coat of arms. The proposal using the colors of the arms was eventually selected. The Sociedad Española de Vexilología was commissioned to redact the memoir supporting the proposed design.
The flag is described as follows:

Flag: Rectangular panel, in length 1.5 its width. Vertically divided into two parts, red at hoist, in length 1/3 of the panel's length, the other, white. Charged on the division line with the municipal coat of arms, in width 2/3 of the panel's width.

The colors of the flag recall the fields of the municipal coat of arms, argent (white) and gules (red), counter-colored to increase contrast. These colors are present in the imaginaery of most inhabitants of Campanario.
The design was adopted by the eight Councillors from the PSOE, while the 6 from the PP voted against it.
[Municipal website]

[Flag]

First hoisted flag of Campanario - Image by Ivan Sache, 14 March 2020

For whatever reason, the first hoisted flag (photo) had the red stripe narrower than prescribed, seeminlgy 1/4 of the flag's length. This appears to have been subsequently corrected (photo, photo).

The coat of arms of Campanario, adopted on 15 September 2006 by the Municipal Council and validated on 18 January 2007 by the Assessing Council of Honors and Distinctions of the Government of Extremadura, are prescribed by an Order issued on 23 January 2007 by the Government of Extremadura and published on 8 February 2007 in the official gazette of Extremadura, No. 16 pp. 2,122-2,123 (text)
The coat of arms is described as follows:

Coat of arms: Per pale, 1. Argent a Cross of Alcántara vert, 2. Gules a tower argent on a base vert. The shield surmounted by a Royal crown closed.

The tower is represented with two bells, which is unusual in heraldry and not stated in the blazon, most probably to make the arms canting (campanario, "a bell-tower").

Ivan Sache, 14 March 2020