Grazalema (Municipality, Andalusia, Spain)

Last modified: 2016-01-09 by ivan sache
Keywords: grazalema |
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Flag of Grazalema - Image from the Símbolos de Cadíz website, 4 May 2014

• Presentation of Grazalema
• Symbols of Grazalema
• Flag without arms

See also:

• Spain
• Andalusia (Autonomous Community, Spain)
• Province of Cádiz (Andalusia, Spain)

Presentation of Grazalema

The municipality of Grazalema (2,171 inhabitants in 2013; 12,241 ha; municipal website) is located 140 km north-east of Cádiz, on the border with the Province of Seville.

Symbols of Grazalema

The flag of Grazalema, adopted on 9 March 1995 by the Municipal Council, is prescribed by Decree No. 285, adopted on 28 November 1995 by the Government of Andalusia and published on 23 March 1996 in the official gazette of Andalusia, No. 37, p. 2,975 (text). This was confirmed by a Decree adopted on 30 November 2004 by the Government of Andalusia and published on 20 December 2004 in the official gazette of Andalusia, No. 246, pp. 28,986-29,002 (text).
The flag is described as follows:

Flag: Bicolor flag, vertically divided into two equal parts, at hoist Andalusian green charged in the middle with the crowned coat of arms of Grazalema, at hoist white charged in the middle with a dark green Spanish fir. The dimensions of the flag shall be 2.50 m x 1.60 m.

The coat of arms of Grazalema is prescribed by Decree No. 413, adopted on 3 January 1966 by the Spanish Government and published on 22 February 1966 in the Spanish official gazette, No. 45, p. 2,176 (text). This was confirmed by a Decree adopted on 30 November 2004 by the Government of Andalusia and published on 20 December 2004 in the official gazette of Andalusia, No. 246, pp. 28,986-29,002 (text).
The "rehabilitated" coat of arms "of immemorial use", validated by the Royal Academy of History, is described as follows:

Coat of arms: Per pale, 1. Argent a lion rampant gules crowned or, 2. Or four pallets gules. A bordure azure charged with eight escutcheons or a fess azure. The shield surmounted by a Ducal crown.

The coat of arms belonged to the Ponce de León family, lord of the domain of the Seven Villages, which encompassed Villaluenga, Benaocaz, Ubrique, Archite, Cardela, Grazalema, and, subsequently, El Bosque [Símbolos de las Entidades Locales de Andalucía. Cádiz (PDF file)].
The former arms of Grazalema, as described by Luis de Igartuburu (1847) and Antonio Poley y Poley (1901), displaying a crowned rampant lion in a blue field, are considered to be erroneous, due to non-compliance with the basic heraldic rules. On 10 October 1876 the municipality adopted a seal displaying a rampant lion in the first quarter and two pallets in the second quarter. The current arms have been mistaken for the arms of the Dukes of Arcos , because there existed no historical documents and the proper arms were unknown in the village [José Antonio Delgado y Orellana. Heráldica Municipal de la Provincia de Cádiz].

Klaus-Michael Schneider & Ivan Sache, 4 May 2014

Flag without arms

Flag of Grazalema, as seen on 12 November 2009 at Restaurant Mirador - Image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 1 December 2009

The flag appears to be (unofficially) used without the municipal coat of arms.

Klaus-Michael Schneider, 1 December 2009