Last modified: 2015-06-02 by antónio martins
Keywords: lajes das flores | coat of arms (cow) | hydrangea | hortensia | cow (black and white) | goshawk (black) | quina | waves: 4 |
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It is a fairily typical portuguese municipal flag,
with the coat of arms centred on a quartered background
(town status) of white and blue. Flag and arms adopted and
published in the official journal
Diário do Governo : II
Série in 1960.05.30, an unusually late date.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 20 Oct 2007
The arms are Gules on a mound wavy of four Vert and Argent a cow Argent
spootted Sable collared and belled Or between two hortensia flowers Proper
leved Vert and in chief a goshawk Sable
emphasised Or holding an escutcheon Azure charged with five plates Argent set
in saltire. Mural
crown argent with four visible towers (town rank)
and white scroll reading in black upper case letters "Lajes das Flores".
António Martins-Tuválkin, 20 Oct 2007
Lajes das Flores municipality had 1592 inhabitants in 2001 and consists of 7 communes covering 69,59 km², taking up the southern half of Flowers’ Island (Flores). It is part of Azores Region (also a NUTS II and traditional province), former Horta District. "Lajes das Flores" means "flagstones of Flores", the former being the natural kind, made from lava flows and the latter for the municipality location.
The arms show two introduced life forms that become ubiquitous in Azores: Milk cows and hortensias (Hydrangea macrophylla); the later are blazoned “proper” but this plant is known to present petal color variance according to the soil pH, ranging from red to blue — those represented in the arms are purplish blue (acidic soil).
Neither Lajes das Flores municipality nor Lajes do Pico municipality are home to Lajes Field, the Portuguese Air Base nº4 leased to the United States Air Force 65th Air Base Wing — which is located in Praia da Vitória municipality in Terceira Island.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 20 Oct 2007
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