Vizela Municipality (Portugal)

Concelho de Vizela, Distrito de Braga

Last modified: 2015-07-19 by klaus-michael schneider
Keywords: vizela | bridge | minerva | inescutcheon | portugal ancient | autonomist |
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• Presentation of Vizela
• About the Flag
• Banner
• Version without Coat of Arms
• Previous flags
• Unofficial flags

• Vizela Communes
• Portugal

• Page about Vizela at the Portuguese Municipalities’s Association website (incl. image of the arms)
  reported by António Martins, 18 Nov 2001

Presentation of Vizela

Yesterday, the Portuguese parliament created a new municipality: Vizela. This puts the number of municipalities in 306.
Jorge Candeias, 20 Mar 1998

This municipality (along with some 800 others) existed until mid 19th century, when a major reform took place. Unlike most of those, the Vizelans kept always alive a strong movement favouring the re-establishment of their municipality. The newly approved municipality of Vizela will consist mostly of communes detached from the Guimarães municipality, and also some from Felgueiras and Lousada. The officiali approval will happen not before mid May, together with other new municipalities.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 2 Apr 1998

About the Flag

It is a fairly typical Portuguese municipal flag, with the coat of arms centred on a field gyronny of eight (city rank) of yellow and blue.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 4 Nov 2014

Shield Argent, 3-arched bridge Argent masoned black over a base of green landscape, above a couped Minerva (Greek: Pallas Athene, mythical founder of Athens) holding the Gorgon's head in her left hand, beneath a tiny black inscription "VIZELA ROMANA" (invisible in images), Minerva is flanked by two inescutcheons Azure bearing five plates in quincunx. Mural crown with five visible towers (city rank) and white scroll reading in black capitals "VIZELA".
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 4 Nov 2014

Banner

Banner like flag, but square and with golden and blue tassels and cord, and golden pole with finial.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 4 Nov 2014

Version without Coat of Arms

Previous (unofficial) flags

Flag reported 1998

Four towers

The flag of the new municipality, in use for a long time now, but still not official is a gyronny flag of blue over yellow. The flag, as always, has the arms of the municipality in the centre. This coat of arms, also not official yet, has a silver field with a bridge at the bottom, a Minerva in the centre and two very long white shields (one on each side of the goddess) each with five quinas inside. (Remarkable is the golden 5-towered crown, reserved for Lisboa)
Jorge Candeias, 20 Mar 1998

Yesterday, there was a huge display of these flags, both in Lisboa and in Vizela to celebrate the recreation of the municipality.
Jorge Candeias, 20 Mar 1998

There was another motive for rejoycement: Not only the municipality was (re)created but also the municipality-to-be seat status was upgraded to that of city. Formerly it was a town — and locals more than once have rejected the upgrading: "No municipality, no city!" (Sem concelho não há cidade!). City flags have 5-tower mural crowns and gyronny fields, while town flags have only 4 and quartered fields. However unofficial flags of Vizela are (and as far as I know always were) gyronny, but towers vary, as also the scroll inscription: "CIDADE DE VIZELA", "VILA DE VIZELA" or "CONCELHO DE VIZELA" (respectively: "city", "town" and "municipality").
António Martins-Tuválkin, 2 Apr 1998

Five towers

In August, the municipality was officially created and an installation comission was nominated. It was another opportunity to see the flag they are using (with golden (!) 5-towered crown, not official yet, though), since they partied again in both Lisboa and Vizela.
Jorge Candeias, 22 Sep 1998

Unofficial flags

1998 commemorative flag

[At the municipality refoundation celebrations] there was also another flag in display: a diagonally quartered flag of yellow and blue (yellow in the hoist and fly and blue in the top and bottom), with a thin white bordering and the words "CONCELHO | DE | VIZELA" in white in the blue triangles ("concelho de" in the one at the top and "Vizela" in the one at the bottom).
Jorge Candeias, 20 Mar 1998

A really ugly one, if I may say so. Overall ratio was about 4:5. I didn’t see this one before, and I believe (and hope!) it was not a serious proposal.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 2 April 1998

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