Flag of Arcos de Valdevez

The flag of Arcos de Valdevez is yellow and plain, with the coat of arms of the town in the centre. The coat of arms bears a wavy band, a bunch of grapes and a small shield with eleven coins, similar to the quinas of the flag of Portugal. The town is in the Alto Miño, next to Galicia.

How it came about

I did not find an approval date for the flag, so infodate is left empty. Flags of the World already listed it in 1998 with the yellow ground, though its author warned that the colour could be an error, because the sources showed a plain ground. It is a Portuguese rule that single-colour flags always carry the coat of arms in the centre.

How it has changed

No earlier versions of the flag or of the coat of arms are known.

What it means

I did not find an official explanation. These are the readings proposed by Flags of the World, not confirmed:

• White and blue wavy band

  probably the River Vez, which gives the town its name (Valdevez means “valley of the Vez”), or the River Lima.

• Bunch of grapes and a plant like maize

  the countryside and the wine of the region.

• Small shield with eleven coins

  an ancient form of the Portuguese coat of arms, perhaps a sign of the Crown, medieval owner of those lands.

• Crown of four towers and the scroll “Vila de Arcos de Valdevez”

  town.

Fun facts

1. A tournament before a treaty

   The Tournament of Arcos de Valdevez (“Recontro de Valdevez”) was a decisive episode in the early days of Portugal and a precedent for the Treaty of Zamora of 1143.

2. It was called Arcobriga

   In Roman and Visigothic times it was called Arcobriga: arcus is “arch” and briga, in Celtic, “fortified settlement”.

Location