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Flag of Coimbra

Eight purple and yellow gironnies with the coat of arms of the chalice, the serpent and Queen Saint Isabel: the flag of Coimbra was published in 1930.

Flag of Coimbra
Coat of arms
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The flag, in figures

Every fact about the flag, each with what it means.

Proportions
2:33 wide for every 2 high. 989 flags in the catalogue share it.
Properties
Normal flagFIAV symbol: the form of the flag.
Use
CivilFIAV symbol: who may fly the flag.
Adopted
193014 November 1930 · 96 years ago
Colours
  • purple
  • yellow
  • red
Reference shades: the official one may vary slightly.
Coat of arms
YesIt carries the coat of arms on the cloth.
123

Take a closer look

  1. The eight segments

  2. 1

    The shield

  3. 2

    The mural crown

  4. 3

    The queen

How it is described

The flag in the words of vexillology and heraldry.

Vexillological description

It is a rectangular field —the field is the cloth of the flag —with a 2:3 ratio, gyronny in purple and yellow, with the coat of arms of the city in the centre. “Gyronny” means the field is split into eight gironnies that all come out of the centre.

Field
eight gironnies (wedges that come out of the centre), four purple and four yellow, alternating.
Coat of arms
centred; its ground is red, the figures are gold and at the sides it carries two small shields.
No ornaments
there is no canton (the rectangle of the upper corner by the flagpole, the pole), no border and no text.

What it carries

Each element and how many of the 1,390 flags in the catalogue carry it. In yellow, the rarest.

The full story

How it was born, how it has changed and what it means.

The flag of Coimbra has eight purple and yellow gironnies, with a red coat of arms in the centre: a chalice, a serpent, a lion and the bust of a queen. Coimbra is the city of one of the oldest universities in Europe, and its coat of arms remembers it.

How it came about

Flag and coat of arms were approved by law and published in the Diário do Governo (I Série) on 14 November 1930. It was only a few months after the Ministry of the Interior fixed, in April 1930, how the flags of Portuguese cities were to be: eight gironnies in the main colours of the coat of arms, like that of Lisbon. Coimbra debuted the new model very early.

The coat of arms mixes history and legend. The chalice and the serpent allude to the university, founded by King Dinis. The lion and the serpent represent ancient peoples, the Alans and the Suebi. And the queen is Saint Isabel of Aragon, who lived in Coimbra as a widow.

How it has changed

Before the current coat of arms, the city used another with the Saint Queen full-length, on a pointed shield. According to Flags of the World it was used “until not long ago”. No flag before the one of 1930 is known.

  1. Before 1930

    Old coat of arms with the Saint Queen full-length. I have no data on the flag that went with it.

  2. Current flag of Coimbra: eight purple and yellow gironnies with the coat of arms of the city

    1930

    Current official flag and coat of arms. The two shields, the old one and the current, have the queen as the figure of the city.

What it means

  • Golden chalice

    the Holy Grail of legend and, together with the serpent, the university.

  • Winged serpent

    a symbol of wisdom and, according to Flags of the World, of the old Suebi kingdom.

  • Golden lion

    the Alans, another ancient people.

  • Bust of the queen

    Saint Isabel of Aragon, patron of the city.

  • Two small shields

    the royal arms of Portugal, at the sides of the queen.

Fun facts

  1. The city's holiday is the queen's day

    The municipal holiday is 4 July, the anniversary of the death of Saint Isabel of Aragon in 1336. She is the patron of Coimbra.

  2. A coat of arms for the university

    The serpent, a symbol of wisdom, and the Grail chalice form the emblem of the city’s university, according to Flags of the World.

Location

How much have you learnt?

Test what you have read about the flag of Coimbra.

  1. 1. Which one is the flag of Coimbra?

  2. 2. Which of these elements appears on the flag?

  3. 3. What are the proportions (height:width) of the flag?

  4. 4. In which year was the current flag adopted?

Sources

Sources consulted:

Credits

Flag image: GumballNine1Nine, Wikimedia Commons · CC0.

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