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Astorga, Paraná (Brazil)

image by Dirk Schönberger, 5 July 2011
Source: http://www.astorga.pr.gov.br/simbolos.php

About the Flag

About the Flag

A light blue field with a narrow horizontal yellow-edged red central stripe, and a large yellow triangle extending from the hoist bearing the municipal shield.

Official website at http://www.astorga.pr.gov.br.

Dirk Schönberger, 5 July 2011

The municipality of Astorga (24,704 inhabitants in 2010; 435 sq. km) is located in north central Paraná, 420 km from Curitiba. The municipality is made of the town of Astorga proper (18,056 inh.) and of the districts of Santa Zélia (3,402 inh.), Içara (1,051 inh.) and Tupinambá (1,746 inh.).

Astorga was founded by the "Companhia de Terras Norte do Paraná" (CTNP). Two hypotheses are usually presented to explain the name of the municipality. The first claims that the name was coined by the Russian engineer Wladimir Babkov who randomly pointed his finger on an earth globe and "reached" Astorga, Spain. The second, backed up by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, claims that the name was coined as a tribute to General Ascoot, one of the directors of the CTNP, who was born in the Astorga County, England [I have not found anything on General Ascoot, nor on an English Astorga County, though!]. The first settlers of Astorga were Antenor Domingues, his wife and their seven sons, as well as Miguel Francisco da Costa and his wife. The plan of the new settlement was designed on 8 May 1945 by the Chief Engineer of the Topography Department of the CTNP, based on a V-shape pattern celebrating the victory over the Axis completed the same day. Astorga was formally established in 1947 as a district part of the municipality of Arapongas. The municipality of Astorga was established by State Law No. 790 of 14 November 1951 and inaugurated on 14 December 1952.

The symbols of Astorga, designed by Arcinoê Antonio Peixoto de Faria, are prescribed by Municipal Law No. 632 of May 1975.

The flag superseded an older flag, whose design was deemed not to be focused enough on Astorga's main elements. The coat of arms represents the municipal government. The yellow triangle represents the seat of the municipality; the triangle is the heraldic symbol of liberty and fraternity, while yellow is the symbol of glory, splendor, greatness, wealth and sovereignty. The horizontal stripe represents the municipal power spreading over the whole municipal territory. Red is the symbol of dedication, patriotic commitment, audacity, intrepidness, courage and valiance. The blue fields represent the rural estates on the municipal territory. Blue is the symbol of justice, nobleness, perseverance, zeal and loyalty.

The coat of arms is made of a Samnitic shield, the first style of shield introduced to Portugal from France, inherited by the Brazilian heraldry as a symbol of the colonizing race and main component of our nation. The mural crown is the universal symbol of government, with four towers standing for a town of 3rd rank, that is the seat of a municipality. The shield depicts a lion rampant gules (red) holding per pale a sword argent (silver) [red on the drawing of the arms], taken from the arms of the Spanish Province of León, recalling the Leonese town of Astorga, the namesake of the Brazilian Astorga. The hunting horn sable (black) represents cattle and dairy breeding, the base of the municipal economy. Sable (black) is the symbol of caution, wisdom, moderation and strong-mindedness. The chevron azure (blue) charged with three bees argent (silver) recalls the development of bee-keeping in the municipality. Argent (silver) is the symbol of peace, friendship, work, prosperity, purity and religious feeling. The rooster in the base of the shield stands for poultry farming, another activity of the municipality. The shield is supported by plants of maize and branches of coffee, the main products of the fertile soil.
http://www.astorga.pr.gov.br/simbolos.php
Ivan Sache, 11 February 2012