Flag of Bufali

The flag of Bufali is a red field with the coat of arms of the municipality in the centre, and nothing else: the coat of arms appears without the crown that does top it on the official arms. The rule itself says so, “desproveït de timbre o corona”. It is the only flag of the Valencian Country, of those we have seen, that goes without a crown.

How it came about

Bufali is a municipality in the Vall d’Albaida. Its coat of arms was approved by resolution of 26 January 1993, published in DOGV number 1,976, and its flag by resolution of 30 November 2016, published in DOGV number 7,938, of 16 December of that year.

The coat of arms is Iberian —rounded at the bottom —and divided in two. At the top is the part of the Milà d’Aragó, marquises of Albaida and lords of the village: a black kite flying over silver, next to the four red bars of Aragon on gold. Below, on a blue ground, the white church of the parish of Our Lady of Loreto, which stopped depending on Montaverner in 1574.

How it has changed

It has not changed: it is the flag approved in 2016.

What it means

• Red

  the background of the field, in a single colour.

• Black kite

  in the upper left part of the coat of arms, alluding to the Milà d’Aragó, lords of the municipality.

• Four red bars

  those of Aragon, in the upper right part.

• White church

  below, the parish of Loreto, with the joints and the windows in black.

Fun facts

1. A flag with the coat of arms and no crown

   The official coat of arms of Bufali is topped by an open royal crown. The flag is not: the 2016 description says the coat of arms is extended “stripped of crest or crown”. It is a rare detail, because what is normal on Valencian municipal flags is to carry the coat of arms as it is, crown included.

2. A kite, not an eagle

   The bird on the coat of arms is not an eagle: it is a kite, a smaller bird of prey which in heraldry usually appears flying with its wings open, as here. The arms of the family that put it on the shield —the Milà d’Aragó, marquises of Albaida —had it that way.

3. The church that became independent in 1574

   At the bottom of the coat of arms is the parish of Our Lady of Loreto, the church of the village. It is not there out of devotion: it is there because in 1574 it stopped depending on the parish of Montaverner, and the coat of arms remembers it. It is a specific date hidden in a small drawing.

4. The bars of Aragon, for the third time

   The four red bars on gold are those of Aragon, and they appear again here as in Borriana and in the Valencian senyera. When a coat of arms includes them, it is rarely by chance: the rule is that the municipality was under the Crown of Aragon, and that reference is meant to be written down.