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

Garopaba, Santa Catarina (Brazil)

image by Joseph McMillan

Municipality
Description of the flag
Variant flag

See also:

Municipality

The municipality of Garopaba (18,144 inhabitants in 2010; 11,467 ha) is located 100 km south of Florianópolis.

Garopaba was first mentioned in 1525 when a naval expedition coming from A Coruña moored in Garopaba Bay.

Ivan Sache, 3 November 2021

Description of the Flag

The flag of Garopaba is prescribed by Municipal Law No. 196 promulgated on 5 October 1971.

Article 1.
The flag of the municipality of Garopaba shall be rectangular, in proportions 2 units in width on 3 units in length.
§1. It shall be divided into four white and blue isosceles triangles.
§2. The white triangle placed on the left and right sides and the blue triangles placed on top and bottom shall be charged in the center with the coat of arms of the municipality in full colors.

https://leismunicipais.com.br/a/sc/g/garopaba/lei-ordinaria/1971/20/196/lei-ordinaria-n-196-1971-aprova-a-bandeira-do-municipio-de-garopaba
Leis Municipais database

The coat of arms of Garopaba is prescribed by Municipal Law No. 186 promulgated on 1 July 1971.

Article 1.
The coat of arms of Garopaba, designed by citizen Wolfgang Ludwig Rau, shall have the following characteristics.
1 - The coat of arms of the municipality of Garopaba is composed of a modern shield with a mural crown, an external allegory, and a surrounding stripe.
2 - The shield is divided in four fields (quarters): two lateral, symmetrical, green and yellow; one central, triangular, light pink; and one in the lower part, celestial blue.
3 - The celestial blue field features a fish ("garoupa", "grouper"), symbolizing water resources, this fish being a main source of income for the municipality. The fish also symbolizes the people's Christian spirit.
4 - The central light pink field features, on a triangle, an allegory of the municipality's landscape and agricultural, commercial and industrial activities. They are represented, respectively, by sugarcanes and rice panicles, Mercury's winged symbol, and a mechanic cogwheel.
5 - The two lateral symmetric fields are concentrically striped, alternating the national colors, green and yellow. Each one features a flying seagull. They symbolize both the people's patriotic spirit and the municipality's maritime condition. The seagulls also recall the amenities offered by the beaches of the developing sea resort.
6 - The shield is crowned by a six-towered golden wall representing the united and vigilant municipality. A golden canoe in front of the wall refers to the origin of the name of Garopaba, a corruption from Tupi "y-gara-pabe" meaning "the appearance of canoes", "the port".
Two red five-pointed stars placed symmetrically beneath the crown highlight the inhabitants' intelligence and willingness for the control of instincts and elements.
7- The stripe surrounding the shield's base, in the predominant colors of the Santa Catarina flag, is inscribed with the municipality's name and date of emancipation.
8 - The external allegory, placed between the surrounding stripe and the shield, provides multiple references to the remote history and development of the region, whose settlements originates in 1795, as a whaling base.
A Carijó native near a tipití [press] used to process cassava flour recalls the numerous old inhabitants, whose presence in Garopaba is widely documented by sambaquís [shell heaps] and remains of indigenous stone and pottery workshops existing on the municipality's seashore.
The Portuguese shield of Pero Lopes de Souza [1497-1539] recalls that the region belonged to his Captaincy in the time of the Treaty of Tordesillas [1494]. It also alludes to the notable Azorean colonization of the Santa Caterina seashore.
The Christian cross recalls the Jesuit fathers; the hat with large rim, the pioneers and colonizers; the iron anchor, the seamen.
The bunch of war weapons recalls the presence in Garopaba of Ragamuffins led by Lieutenant Colonel Joaquim Teixiera Nunes [1802-1844] in 1839, at the time of the Juliana Republic establishment in Laguna, whose coat of arms is placed near the shield recalling the struggle for liberty.
The crown and the liberty cap highlight the last century's political struggles between Monarchists and Republicans.
Different fishing and famring tools symbolize the main activities exerted by the population of Garopaba since the early ages.

https://leismunicipais.com.br/a/sc/g/garopaba/lei-ordinaria/1971/19/186/lei-ordinaria-n-186-1971-institui-o-brasao-do-municipio-de-garopaba-e-da-outras-providencias
Leis Municipais database

Ivan Sache, 3 November 2021

Variant flag

image by Dirk Schönberger, 10 June 2012

The variant shows a white square (not rectangle) in the centre.