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Coreses (Municipality, Castilla y León, Spain)

Flag of Coreses - Image by Ivan Sache, 16 January 2014

Presentation of Coreses
Symbols of Coreses

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Presentation of Coreses

The municipality of Coreses (1,142 inhabitants in 2012; 4,316 ha; municipal website) is located 15 km east of Zamora.

Coreses was established in the first half of the 10th century by Mozarab colonists from Coria. King of León Ordoño III transferred Coreses to Fernando Ansúrez, who offered the village to the Sahagún monastery in 976. After the destruction of the monastery by Almanzor, Coreses was reincorporated to the Royal domain.
Coreses was mentioned in the Middle Ages as Choresios or Kaureses, including the two settlements of Sanctus Pelagius and Santa Cristina, inhabited until the early 16th century. Coreses was then a resting place for pilgrims heading to Santiago de Compostela via the Zamora-Toro road.
In the mid 18th century, Coreses counted 480 inhabitants, who grew grains, legumes and grapevine. Wine-making boomed during the 19th century, paralleled by an increase in the population. The most famous domain was the Marquisate of Villagodio, increased since the 18th century; granted the deserted village of San Pelayo by Philip V, the Marquis drained the area and transformed it in a main zone of arable land. Andrés Mayoral y San Pedro, 1st Marquis of Villagodio, was Regidor Perpetuo (Permanent Municipal Councillor) of Zamora, a key figure in the political life of the town in the late 18th - early 19th century.

Ivan Sache, 16 January 2014

Symbols of Coreses

The flag of Coreses (photo) is horizontally divided green-blue with the municipal coat of arms in the middle.

The coat of arms of Coreses is "Per fess, 1. Gules a castle or ports and windows azure, 2. Vert a three-arched bridge argent masoned sable over waves argent and azure, ensigned dexter with a wheat spike and sinister with a bunch of grapes of the same. The shield surmounted by a Royal Spanish crown closed".

The Royal Academy of History accepted the elements of the original proposal of coat of arms but required changes in their arrangement.
The narrow bordure of the shield should be "absolutely" suppressed, being both unknown to Spanish tradition and unnecessary. The addition of disproportionate spike and bunches of grapes over the bridge is also deemed inadequate. The waves in base should cover less space and be represented as a smaller number of waves in turn argent and azure, of equal height. Finally, the castle should be given a bigger width to adequately cover the field. The colours assigned to the castle identify it with the royal arms of Castile, whose use has no justification; accordingly, its colour should be changed.
The symbolism assigned to the colours is totally fanciful. Moreover, the Royal crown surmounting the shield does not recall any historical situation but represents the modern incorporation to the Kingdom of Spain.
The arms should be eventually charged for: "Per fess, 1. Gules a castle argent, 2. Azure a bridge argent over waves. The shield surmounted by a Royal Spanish crown".
The proposed flag is rectangular, in proportions 2:3, horizontally divided green-blue with the aforementioned arms in the middle (Boletín de la Real Academia de la Historia, 1999, 196, 2: 344).

The municipality does not appear to have followed the recommendations of the Academy. No adoption Decree seems to have been published in an official gazette, either.

Ivan Sache, 16 January 2014