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Alferce Commune (Portugal)

Freguesia de Alferce, Concelho de Monchique, Distrito de Faro

Last modified: 2014-08-02 by klaus-michael schneider
Keywords: alferce | tower(golden) | scimitar | hoes(2) |
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[Alferce commune] 2:3 image by Sérgio Horta, 25 Jan 2008
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About the Flag

It is a typical Portuguese communal flag, with the coat of arms centred on a plain white background.
António Martins-Tuválkin,

Coat of arms

[Alferce commune CoA] image by Sérgio Horta, 25 Jan 2008

The arms are Vert a tower Argent masoned Sable with port and windows Gules and in chief two hoe irons Or and in base a scimitar Argent set in fess. Mural crown argent with three visible towers (village rank) and white scroll reading in black upper case letters "ALFERCE - MONCHIQUE"
Meaning:
The coat of arms is meant to be partly canting as the toponym supposedly stems from Arabic "al-faris", meaning "knight"" (also the etym for the Portuguese military rank "alferes") - this would account for the scimitar and for the tower, which also symbolizes the local castle; the hoes refer to the local female population. These arms were designed by Nuno Campos and Isabel Carneiro.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 25 Jan 2008

Flag and arms adopted and published in the official journal Diário da República: III Série in 2004.10.26.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 25 Jan 2008

Presentation of Alferce

Alferce Commune is one of the three communes of the Monchique municipality. The commune had 512 inhabitants in 2001 and covers 95,31 km².
António Martins-Tuválkin, 25 Jan 2008

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