Flag of Amares

The flag of Amares is a plain green field with the municipal coat of arms in the centre. In Portugal, plain flags almost never go alone: the coat of arms is obligatory.

How it came about

Amares is a municipality in northern Portugal, in the district of Braga, with its seat in Vila Faia. Its flag was approved on 17 August 1951.

The coat of arms depicts what the district grows: fruit, grapes and maize. It is an agricultural coat of arms, built from the real economy of the territory.

How it has changed

It has never changed. It was approved in 1951 and there are no documented later modifications.

What it means

• Green

  the whole field, with no divisions or stripes.

• Coat of arms

  in the exact centre, with the crown that corresponds to a Portuguese municipality.

The coat of arms shows fruit, grapes and maize: the three crops of the district of Amares.

Fun facts

1. In Portugal, green and a coat of arms

   Portuguese municipal flags are plain in colour, and the municipal coat of arms occupies the centre. The green of Amares is the colour of the field, and the three crops of the coat of arms are its content. Field and arms tell the same thing in two ways.

2. A coat of arms made of crops

   Many municipal arms reproduce castles or crosses like Saint George. Amares has no castle: it has grapes, maize and fruit. It is an economic coat of arms, where each element is a product of the land.

3. Approved in 1951

   The date is early for a municipal flag. Portugal legalised many of these flags in the twentieth century, and Amares was one of those that did it soon. Shortly after the Second World War, when the country reorganised its symbols.

Location