Village of L-Għarb (Gozo Island, Malta)

Gharb, Il-Għarb, Il-Gharb

Last modified: 2013-12-09 by rob raeside
Keywords: malta | gozo | gharb | tower (red) | star: 6 points (yellow) |
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3:5 image by Dirk Schönberger, 28 October 2002

• Description

See also:

• Subnational Flags (Malta)
• Malta

Other sites:

• Coat-of-arms of L-Għarb at the Gozo website

Description

Gharb means "west" in Arabic, and is also the root of the name of Portuguese Algarve, al-Gharb in the medieval days of Muslim occupation.
Jorge Candeias, 1 November 2002

Horizontally divided flag, the top stripe about half as wide as the bottom one, the separation line is serrated. The top stripe is blue with a yellow six-pointed star, the bottom stripe is white with a red tower. Blazon: Argent a tower Gules on a chief dancetty Azure a mullet of six points Or.

According to the L-Għarb website:

The word Gharb comes from Arabic that means (sunset) the West of Gozo. (...) Motto of the village is "In extremo vigilat" which means "Sentinel at the borderline".

After the Arabs took over these islands Arabic became the official language. Some old people from L-Gharb more than any other villages in Gozo are still using some of these words today in their day to day life. (...) The tower of Dwejra was built in 1651 during the days of the Grand Master De Paule and two canons erected. There was another tower on 'Ta' Dbiegi' hill but it perished during an earthquake.