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Nantes, São Paulo State (Brazil)

image by Ivan Sache, 2 March 2013
image modified from one contributed on 5 February 2013 to Wikimedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bandeira_Nantes.png

Description of the Flag

See also:

Description of the Flag

The municipality of Nantes (2,707 inhabitants; 28,542 ha) is located in southwestern São Paulo State, on the border with Paraná.

Nantes was founded around 1925, as Coroados, by Portuguese immigrants interested in timber wood exploitation. The town was founded by Aires Pinto, who established a sawmill around 1935. Since the region was not divided into private properties, conflicts for the land were very harsh, peaking in 1951 with the murder of Messias Nantes. The district of Coroados, quickly renamed Nantes, was established by Municipal Law No. 2,456 of 30 December 1953, as a part of the municipality of Iepê. The municipality of Nantes was established by State Law No. 9,330 of 27 December 1995, following a plebiscite organized on 21 May 1995, and inaugurated on 1 January 1997.

http://camarapprudente.sp.gov.br/historia/hist_oeste/cidades/nantes/historia.html - "Enciclopédia Digital de Oeste Paulista" website

The symbols of Nantes, designed by Lauro Ribeiro Escobar, are prescribed by Municipal Law No. 26, adopted in August 1997.

The flag is yellow with a red cross. Over the intersection of the cross' arms is placed a yellow disk charged with the municipal coat of arms. The cross is a symbol of Christian faith.

http://camarapprudente.sp.gov.br/historia/hist_oeste/cidades/nantes/simbolos.html - "Enciclopédia Digital de Oeste Paulista" website

The image recently contributed to Wikimedia Commons on 5 February 2013 by "Prefeitura Municipal" (Municipal Executive) and sourced to the municipal official website (as of today, in re-construction), shows the flag with the cross off-centered. The 2:3 proportions of the image should, for sure, be corrected for the usual 7:10 proportions and the quarters at the hoist made square.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bandeira_Nantes.png

The coat of arms is "Gules a chevron or in chief a bee surrounded by two axes in base a bundle of three arrows all of the second. The shield surmounted by a mural crown argent ports sable. The shield surrounded dexter by a plant of cotton and sinister by plant of maize the two proper. Beneath the shield a scroll gules inscribed with the municipality's name in letters or."

The Iberian shield evokes the first colonizers of the country. Gules evokes the conflicts for the land and the courage exhibited by the first colonizers in the bloody struggle of the time. The bee represents people building and increasing the municipality. The axes evokes the early source of income for the region, wood-cutting. The three arrows are the tools used in the martyr of St. Sebastian, the town's patron saint. Or is a symbol of wealth, generosity, nobleness, force, faith and prosperity. The mural crown is a symbol of municipal emancipation; the open ports are a symbol of hospitality. The branches of cotton indicates the predominance of this crop since 1945. The plant of maize represents mixed farming.

http://camarapprudente.sp.gov.br/historia/hist_oeste/cidades/nantes/simbolos.html - "Enciclopédia Digital de Oeste Paulista" website

Ivan Sache, 2 March 2013