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Antigua (Municipality, Canary Islands, Spain)

Flag of Antigua, as seen on 4 February 2014 on the Town Hall - Image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 16 February 2014

Symbols of Antigua

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Symbols of Antigua

The flag of Antigua is prescribed by a Decree adopted on 28 March 2003 by the Government of the Canary Islands and published on 10 April 2003 in the official gazette of the Canary Islands, No. 70, pp. 5,399-5,400 (text). The flag was initially approved on 14 May 2002 by the Municipal Council, as published on 6 July 2001 in the official gazette of the Las Palmas Province, and validated on 6 March 2003 by the Heraldry Commission of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands.
The flag is described as follows:

Flag: Rectangular, green with a yellow diagonal stripe running from the upper hoist to the lower fly, in height 1/5 of the panel's total height. When the flag is charged with the municipal coat of arms, the arms should be placed in the middle of the panel.

The coat of arms of Antigua is prescribed by a Decree adopted on 22 April 1999 by the Government of the Canary Islands and published on 31 May 1999 in the official gazette of the Canary Islands, No. 69, pp. 7,760-7,761 (text). The coat of arms was initially approved on 18 July 1997 by the Municipal Council and validated on 11 March 1999 by the Heraldry Commission of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands.
The coat of arms is described as follows:

Coat of arms: Per fess. 1. Or a palm proper, 2. Gules a windmill argent. The shield surmounted by a Royal Spanish crown, closed by diadems. The shield surrounded by two branches of the plant Kali aizoides canariensis (Barrilla canaria) tied in base by a scroll [gules].

The rationale for the design is the follwing.
First quarter [repeated description skipped].
Or, the noblest of the heraldic metals, is a symbol of nobility, chivalry, wealth, generosity, splendour, sovereigntly, love, purity, health, strngth, gravity, joy, prosperity, eternity, power, and constancy.
The palm, a symbol of justice, virtue and incorruption, recalls the significance of these trees for Antigua, first as prominent among the other trees in the area, and, second, as extensively used of local craftsmen. The trees are labelled "proper", being featured with the traditional colours of their trunk and leaves.

Second quarter [repeated description skipped].
Gules, represented in herladry by red, is a symbol of charity, valiance, nobleness, magnanimity, value, audacity, intrepidity, joy, ardour, honour, wrath and triumph.
The windmill was adopted as the traditional symbol of the main source of income for the inhabitants of Antigua all along the history. Argent is a symbol of humility, innocence, felicity, purity, temperance, truth, frankness, limpidity, integrity, eloquence and triumph over the enemy without blood shed.

Royal crown
According to the laws of heraldry, this crown shall be used on the arms of all municipalities and corporations established from the time of Philip V onwards.

Supporters [repeated description skipped].
The branches of barilla recall that tne most important activity in the municipality all along its social and economical history was the trade of the product of the plant [soda ash]; this was the main source of income all along the history.

Klaus-Michael Schneider & Ivan Sache, 16 Febriary 2014