Rota (Municipality, Andalusia, Spain)

Last modified: 2014-03-23 by ivan sache
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Flag of Rota, two versions - Images by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 3 December 2009

• Presentation of Rota
• Symbols of Rota
• Costa Ballena

See also:

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

Presentation of Rota

The municipality of Rota (29,136 inhabitants in 2013; 8,401 ha; municipal website) is located 50 km north-west of Cádiz.

Symbols of Rota

The flag of Rota, adopted on 13 April 2000 by the Municipal Council and validated on 18 January 2001 by the Royal Academy of Cordóba, is prescribed by Decree No. 243, adopted on 6 November 2001 by the Government of Andalusia and published on 4 December 2001 in the official gazette of Andalusia, No. 140, pp. 19,483-19,484 (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:

Flag: Rectangular, in proportions 1:2 [used in 2:3], olive green. In the middle is placed the municipal coat of arms.

The preamble of the Decree explains that Rota used in the past a flag vertically divided green-white-green, adopted since then as the offficial flag of Andalusia. To prevent confusion between the two flags, the municipality decided to adopt a new flag, keeping the olive green colour as "most representative and conveying a great symbolic prestige".

The coat of arms of Rota is prescribed by Decree No. 3,399, adopted on 11 December 1969 by the Spanish Government and published on 14 January 1970 in the Spanish official gazette, No. 12, p. 683 (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 traditional use", validated by the Royal Academy of History, is described as follows:

Coat of arms: Azure a castle or masoned sable port and windows gules on waves azure and argent. A bordure or charged with a rosary sable. The shield surmounted by a Ducal coronet.

The tower and the waves recall the defensive and maritime roles of the town, respectively. The rosary represents the long, constant and fervent devotion of the local people to the town's patron saint, the Virgin of the Rosary.
[Símbolos de las Entidades Locales de Andalucía. Cádiz (PDF file)]

The bordure with the rosary was added on 2 November 1959, recalling that the Virgin of the Rosary had been considered the town's patron saint at least since the 17th century, when this was mentioned in a session of the Municipal Council held on 18 January 1688.
[José Antonio Delgado y Orellana. Heráldica Municipal de la Provincia de Cádiz (1969)]

Flags observed on 9 November 2009 differed by the colour of the cross located at the base of the rosary, blue on the flag hoisted on the Rota beach and in Costa Ballena, white on the flag hoisted at the Town Hall.

Klaus-Michael Schneider & Ivan Sache, 3 December 2009

Costa Ballena

Flag of Costa Ballena - Image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 24 March 2010

Costa Ballena (Whale Coast) is a resort made for tourists and weekenders, which is nearly empty out of season, located west of Rota, between Rota and Chipiona.
The flag of Costa Ballena, which seems to be a company flag, is hoisted at the gates of the resort, except on holidays. The flag is white, in its centre is a rectangle horizontally divided into black, yellow and celestial blue with a shade of green, the blue stripe being clearly higher. The rectangle is superimposed by a black whale's fin partially fimbriated yellow. The whole is flanked by an inscription, "COSTA" (above, small) and "BALLENA" (below, big).

Klaus-Michael Schneider, 24 March 2010