Last modified: 2014-03-23 by ivan sache
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![[Flag]](../images/e/es-ca-pm.gif)
Flag of El Puerto de Santa María, as seen on 10 November 2009 in front of the Town Hall - Image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 2 December 2009
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The municipality of El Puerto de Santa María (89,142 inhabitants in 2013; 15,934 ha; municipal website) is located 20 km north of Cádiz.
Ivan Sache, 2 December 2009The (unofficial) flag of El Puerto de Santa María is horizontally divided green-yellow with the municipal coat of arms in the middle.
The coat of arms of El Puerto de Santa María, adopted on 13 April 1989 by the Municipal Council and revised on 4 July 1991, as suggested on 15 February 1991 by the Royal Academy of Cordóba, is prescribed by Decree No. 227, adopted on 19 November 1991 by the Government of Andalusia and published on 14 January 1992 in the official gazette of Andalusia, No. 3, p. 113 (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 coat of arms is described as follows:
Coat of arms: Azure a castle or ensigned with a statue sable of the Blessed Virgin, the town's patron saint, clad argent and shining or in base waves azure and argent. The shield surmounted by a Royal crown closed.
The arms recall the reconquest of the town from the Moors by King Alfonso X the Wise in 1264, and the walls subsequently erected by the king. The tradition says that a statue of the Virgin appeared during the building of the fortifications. The waves symbolize river Guadalete.
[Símbolos de las Entidades Locales de Andalucía. Cádiz (PDF file)]
The arms, first used on a seal dated 6 June 1479, are described on an act of the Municipal Council dated 1607. In the 18th century an eight-pointed star replaced the statue of the Virgin. Some say that the star would symbolize Goddess Venus, who had a temple near Sanlúcar de Barrameda. Others say that the star was a symbol of the Military Order of St. Mary, aka Military Order of the Star. In 1852, however, the statue of St. Mary was re-established. Experts still discuss whether St. Mary should be depicted with or without Child Jesus.
[José Antonio Delgado y Orellana. Heráldica Municipal de la Provincia de Cádiz (1969)]
Klaus-Michael Schneider & Ivan Sache, 2 December 2009