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Los Silos (Municipality, Canary Islands, Spain)

Flag of Los Silos, two official versions - Images by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 29 March 2008

Symbols of Los Silos
Former flag of Los Silos

See also:

Symbols of Los Silos

The flag of Los Silos 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. 5,401-5,402 (text). The flag was originally approved on 7 February 2002 by the Municipal Council, as published on 15 March 2002 in the official gazette of the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Province, No. 32, 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 [...] flag one and a half longer than wide, made of three equal horizontal stripes, the first red, the second white, and the third yellow.
When the flag is charged with the municipal coat of arms, this should be placed in the middle of the panel, with a height of 2/3 of the flag's height.

The rationale for the colours of the flag is the following.
Red is the colour of the Virgin of the Light, represented on the 1st quarter of the coat of arms (in the proper traditional colour),
White is the background of the 1st quarter of the coat of arms, represented as argent. It is also traditionally considered as a proper colour.
Yellow is the colour of the silos de trigo (grain silos), historically significant for the development of the municipality.

The coat of arms of Los Silos is prescribed by a Decree adopted on 9 May 1989 by the Government of the Canary Islands and published on 22 May 1989 in the official gazette of the Canary Islands, No. 70, p. 1,989 (text). The coat of arms was approved on 14 March 1989 by the Municipal Council, with some modifications recommended by the Royal Academy of History.
The coat of arms is described as follows:

Coat of arms: Per fess, 1a. Argent, an image of the Virgin of the Light [proper], 1b. Or a tower sable masoned and port and windows argent, 2. Argent, Mt. Aregume vert ensigned with a cross sable in base three caves. The shield surmounted with a Royal crown closed.

According to José Manuel Erbez (Banderas y escudos de Canarias, 2007; website), the 2nd quarter features a tower representing the old fortification once located in the place still known as El Torreón, which was used in the 16th-18th centuries to defend the district against the pirates. The lower quarter depicts Mt. Aregume and the grain silos excavated in the rock, the municipality's namesake.

The former coat of arms of Los Silos, approved on 9 October 1957 by the Spanish Government, was "Argent a woody mountain with three caves sable simulating the entrance of silos ensigned with a cross gules in chief the Virgin of the Light surrounded by a castle or and a lion gules. A bordure vert four bunches of banana or. The shield surmounted with a Royal crown open.
The castle and the lion represent the link with Castile and León. Banana is the most important crop in the municipality.

Klaus-Michael Schneider & Ivan Sache, 18 May 2008

Former flag of Los Silos

Former flag of Los Silos, as seen on 30 Janaury 2007 in the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Military Museum - Image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 14 April 2007

According to José Manuel Erbez (Banderas y escudos de Canarias, 2007; website), the former, unofficial flag of Los Silos was horizontally divided red-white.

Klaus-Michael Schneider, 14 April 2007