Last modified: 2012-03-16 by ian macdonald
Keywords: parana | vera cruz do oeste |
Links: FOTW homepage |
search |
disclaimer and copyright |
write us |
mirrors
![[Flag of Vera Cruz do Oeste (Paraná), PR (Brazil)]](../images/b/br-pr-394.gif)
image by Ivan Sache, 29 February 2012A dark green field with an off-centred white cross, bordered red, with the municipal arms centred in a white disk.
Official website at
http://www.veracruz.pr.gov.br
Dirk Schönberger, 5 October 2011
The municipality of Vera Cruz do Oeste (8,973 inhabitants in 2010; 327 sq.
km) is located in western Paraná, 550 km of Curitiba. Vera Cruz do Oeste was
founded in 1964 by Antonio Villas Boas in the disputed area of Rio Quarto. To
prevent the invasion of the place by other pioneers, Villas Boas built a big
gate at the entrance of the colony, watched by gunmen; accordingly, the place
was originally known as Portão ("Gate"). However, some colonists were able to
enter "illegally" the domain. A first mass was celebrated on 22 September
1965, on the model of the first mass celebrated in Brazil. The municipality
of Céu Azul was established by State Law No. 5,572 of 15 May 1967, including
the district of Vera Cruz do Oeste. The municipality of Vera Cruz do Oeste
was established by State Law No. 7,269 of 27 December 1979 and inaugurated on
1 February 1983.
The symbols of Vera Cruz do Oeste are prescribed by
Municipal Law No. 71, adopted in 1985. The flag is vert (green), the
heraldic symbol of youth, hope, joy and soil's fertility, as well as of the
greening fields forming an ever renewed hope and of the people's joy. The
stripes quartering the flag form a cross recalling the name of the town
(lit., "True Cross"). The outer parts of the stripes are gules (red) as a
tribute to the founder of the town, gules representing audacity, highness and
glory, as well as commitment, patriotic love, intrepidness, courage,
valiance, enthusiasm, life and strength. These are the qualities of he
founder, Antonio Villas Boas, who never gave up fighting for improving the
quality of life of the inhabitants of his town. The central part of the
stripes is white, symbolizing peace, purity, religious feeling and the
aspiration to order and work of the inhabitants. The white disk, the
heraldic symbol of eternity, represents the town as the seat of the
municipality. It is charged in the middle with the municipal coat of arms.
The coat of arms is of classical Flemish-Iberic of Portuguese shape, used
in Portugal at the time of the discovery of Brazil and inherited by the
Brazilian heraldry from the early colonists of the country. The upper part of
the shield is azure with a five-pointed star symbolizing ascendance. Azure
represents justice, beauty, nobleness, dignity, loyalty, serenity and the
search of God by the man into the blue heavens. The central part of the
shield is made of a diagonal stripe or charged with three white escutcheons.
Or represents glory, splendor, richness, greatness, knowledge, faith,
prosperity and generosity. The lower escutcheon shows an armoured arm holding
a torch, the symbol of strong willingness to triumph. The central escutcheon
shows an open book, representing education and culture, two main issues
defended by Antonio Villas Boas. The upper escutcheon shows a winged helmet
representing Mercury, therefore commerce. The lower part of the shield shows
green fields crossed by the three main rivers of the region, São Francisco
Falso Braço Norte, Corvo Branco and São Pedro. The log with the saw
represents the timber resources, one of the main sources of income for the
municipality. The shield is surmounted by an eight-towered mural crown argent
(silver), whose open ports highlight the hospitality of the inhabitants.
Argent represents friendship, work, prosperity, truth, loyalty, nobleness and
intelligence. The shield is supported dexter by a branch of cotton and
sinister by a plant of maize, the two fructed and proper, representing the
products of the fertile soil that are the base of the local income. A scroll
azure (blue) is inscribed with the years of establishment of the district and
of the municipality, respectively. Beneath the scroll are a plant of maize
and a plant of wheat, the two proper and fructed, representing important
products of the region.
http://www.veracruz.pr.gov.br/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=78&Itemid=76
While not mentioned, the designer of the flag must be
Arcinoé Antonio Peixoto de Faria. The drawing of the flag shows the coat of
arms inscribed in an odd oval, while the text prescribes a circle. As seen
on photos taken during the civic parade held on 7 September 2011, the coat of
arms is indeed placed on a circular disk, not on an oval.
http://www.veracruz.pr.gov.br/index.php?option=com_morfeoshow&task=view&gallery=53&Itemid=293 - Image gallery
http://www.veracruz.pr.gov.br/images/morfeoshow/desfile_7_se-9576/big/desfile_14.jpg - Photo
http://www.veracruz.pr.gov.br/images/morfeoshow/desfile_7_se-9576/big/desfile_165.jpg - Photo
http://www.veracruz.pr.gov.br/images/morfeoshow/desfile_7_se-9576/big/desfile_84.jpg - Photo
http://www.veracruz.pr.gov.br/images/morfeoshow/desfile_7_se-9576/big/desfile_58.jpg - Photo
http://www.veracruz.pr.gov.br/images/morfeoshow/desfile_7_se-9576/big/desfile_159.jpg - Photo
Ivan Sache, 29 February 2012
