Eight red and white gironnies with a castle in the centre, because Guarda means “to watch”: the flag of the city was published in 1945.
Every fact about the flag, each with what it means.
Normal flagFIAV symbol: the form of the flag.
CivilFIAV symbol: who may fly the flag.YesIt carries the coat of arms on the cloth.The flag in the words of vexillology and heraldry.
It is a rectangular field —the cloth of the flag —with a 2:3 ratio, divided into eight red and white gironnies that start at the centre, with the coat of arms of the city in the middle of the design.
Each element and how many of the 1,390 flags in the catalogue carry it. In yellow, the rarest.
Every date in its story, at a glance.
King Sancho I founded the city on 27 November 1199 to defend and administer that part…
They followed the model that Portugal had fixed in 1930 for cities: eight gores with the main…
Flag and arms were published in the Diário do Governo on 23 July 1945
How it was born, how it has changed and what it means.
The flag of Guarda has eight red and white gores and a red castle in the centre. It is a “canting” flag: the city is called Guarda, and its arms are a fortress that watches over the border.
King Sancho I founded the city on 27 November 1199 to defend and administer that part of the frontier, which then bordered the kingdoms of León and Castile. Hence the name: to guard the border.
Flag and arms were published in the Diário do Governo on 23 July 1945. They followed the model that Portugal had fixed in 1930 for cities: eight gores with the main colours of the arms, as in Lisbon. The arms are a red castle with white doors and windows, and from them come the red and the white.
I have not found a flag of Guarda earlier than the 1945 one, nor old versions of the arms.
Before 1945
No earlier documented flag or arms are known.
Red and white
the red castle with white doors and windows.
Crenellated castle
the fortress of the frontier. It is a “canting” figure, because guarda means to watch.
Portcullis on the main tower
the grille that closes the entrance.
Small shield with the old arms of Portugal
over the castle.
Mural crown of five towers
it indicates that it is a city.
Guarda is called the “city of the five e’s”: strong, fertile, cold, faithful and beautiful. Cold because it lies at a great altitude, near the Serra da Estrela.
The founding charter of Sancho I, of 1199, set a military and frontier function for the city. Hence its name.
Test what you have read about the flag of Guarda.
Sources consulted:
Flag image: Zloyel, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0.
Other flag
Europa
Other flag
Europa
Other flag
Europa
Other flag
Europa
North America
Caribbean
Other flag
Europa
