image by
Ivan Sache,
8 November 2021 
Last modified: 2021-12-11 by ian macdonald
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image by
Ivan Sache,
8 November 2021
The municipality of Tubarão (104,937 inhabitants in 2018; 30,176 ha) is
located 130 km south-west of Florianópolis.
Tubarão was established in
1774 by Captain João da Costa Moreira. Known as Paragem de Poço Grande (At the
Big Well), the place was a meeting point for tropeiros, who traded cheese and
jerky brought from the mountain areas for salt, salted fish, flour and cloth
brought by shipped from the port of Laguna.
The municipality of Tubarão was
established by Law No. 635 promulgated on 27 May 1870, separating from Laguna.
The establishment of a railway line by the Dona Thereza Cristina Railway company
boosted the development of the town, as did European immigration and coal
extraction. The line connecting the stations of Piedade in Tubarão to Minas
(today, Lauro Müller) was inaugurated on 1 September 1884 by the Viscount of
Barbacena and his English associates. The railway company's central office was
established in Tubarão in 1906. This Gilded Age is recalled by the Tubarão
Railway Museum, founded in 1997 by medical doctor José Warmuth Teixeira and
former railway workers.
Tubarão was named for river Tubarão, itself not
named for the Portuguese word "tubarão", "a shark", but for Tupi-Guarani cacique
Tuba-Nharõ, lit. Ferocious Dad".
The river proved to be ferocious on 23 March
1974 when a flood claimed 200 lives in the town. Mostly peaceful, the river was
celebrated by the writer and journalist Virgílio Várzea (1863-1941) by the
famous stance "the river passes, winding, and in its silver trail bathes the
blue city", the origin of Tubarão's nickname, Blue City.
http://www.tubarao.sc.gov.br/
Municipal website
Ivan Sache, 8 November 2021
A blue flag with a white-black-white saltire with the municipal arms on a white rectangle in the centre.
Official website at
http://www.tubarao.sc.gov.br
Dirk Schönberger,
20 August 2012
The flag and arms of Tubarão are prescribed by Municipal Law No. 532
promulgated on 28 April 1971.
Article 6.
The municipal flag of
Tubarão, designed by heraldist Arcinoé Antonio Peixote de Faria, is described
as: Quartered per saltire, the blue quarters formed by four white stripes
placed two by two in the diagonal dimensions starting from the angles of a
central white rectangle charged with the municipal coat of arms.
§1. The
style of the flag is compliant with the tradition of Portuguese heraldry, of
which Brazil inherited the norms and rules; the municipal flags have to be
divided in eight, six, four or three parts, using the same colors as in the
coat of arms and featuring in the center or at hoist a geometric figure
inscribing the municipal coat of arms.
§2. The coat of arms featured on the
flag represents the municipal government while the white rectangle inscribing
it represents the town proper, as the seat of the municipality. The stripes
starting from the angles of the central rectangle and quartering the flag
represent the municipal power spreading over all the quarters of the territory.
The quarters represent the rural estates scattered over the municipal
territory.
Article 7.
In compliance with heraldic rules, the
municipal flag shall have the official dimensions prescribed for the national
flag, 14 units in width on 20 units in length.
Article 19.
The coat
of arms of Tubarão, designed by heraldist Arcimoe Peixoto de Farias, is
described in proper heraldic language as follows: Samnite shield surmounted by
an eight-towered mural crown argent. On a field azure, a fess wavy argent
charged with a shark naiant sable. In chief a fleur-de-lis argent in base an
escutcheon or charged with a palm vert surmounted by a lion issuant or
surrounded by two electric turbines argent. The shield supported dexter and
sinister by maize and rice plants proper interlaced in base supporting a scroll
gules inscribed argent the toponym "Tubarão" surrounded by years "1836" and
"1870".
§1. The coat of arms shall have the following symbolic
interpretation
a) The Samnite shield used to represent the arms of Tubarão
was the first style of shield introduced to Portugal by French influence;
inherited by Brazilian heraldry, it evokes the colonizing race and main builder
of the nation.
b) The mural crown surmounting the shield is the universal
symbol of domains' coats of arms; argent (silver) with eight towers, only five
of them visible in perspective view, it classifies a town of second rank or
county seat.
c) Azure (blue) is the heraldic symbol of justice, nobleness,
perseverance, zeal and loyalty.
d) The fess wavy argent (silver) charged
with a shark sable (black) makes the arms canting, alluding to the town's
namesake, Shark River (Rio Tubarão).
e) The fleur-de-lis argent (silver)
evokes the town's patron saint, Our Lady of the Piety.
f) The escutcheon or
(gold) charged with a palm vert (green) and surmounted by a lion issuant
represents the arms of the Nunes family, as a tribute to the town's founder,
João Teixeira Nunes.
g) The electric turbines argent (silver) recall the
steam plants established in the municipality that supplied the whole region
with electricity.
h) Argent (silver) is a symbol of peace, friendship, work,
prosperity, purity and religious spirit; sable (black) means dedication,
prudence, knowledge, honesty, moderation and science; or (gold) is a symbol of
glory, splendor, greatness, wealth and sovereignty; vert (green) is a symbol of
honor, civility, courtesy, abundance and glee; it is also the symbol of hope,
which is green since greening fields in spring promise profuse harvests.
i)
The maize and rice plants represent the main products of the generous and
fertile soil.
j) The scroll gules (red), a color symbol of self-esteem,
dedication, audacity, intrepidity, courage and valiance, is inscribed with the
toponym "Tubarão" surrounded by the dates of establishment ("1836") and
political emancipation ("1870") of the municipality.
https://leismunicipais.com.br/a/sc/t/tubarao/lei-ordinaria/1971/54/532/lei-ordinaria-n-532-1971-dispoe-sobre-a-forma-e-apresentacao-dos-simbolos-do-municipio-de-tubarao-e-da-outras-providencias
Leis Municipais database
The coat of arms was modified by Municipal
Law No. 255 promulgated on 19 June 1978. Elements from the original design
supported by erroneous etymological interpretation and fanciful historical
record were duly suppressed.
Article 19.
Samnite shield surmounted by
an eight-towered mural crown argent. On a field azure [...] crossed by four
fesses sable in bend and bend sinister. In chief a fleur-de-lis argent in base
a winged helmet or superimposed to a turbine argent. The shield supported
dexter and sinister by maize and rice plants proper interlaced in base
supporting a scroll gules inscribed argent the toponym "Tubarão" and year
"1870".
§1. The coat of arms shall have the following symbolic
interpretation
a) The Samnite shield used to represent the arms of Tubarão
was the first style of shield introduced to Portugal by French influence;
inherited by Brazilian heraldry, it evokes the colonizing race and main builder
of the nation.
b) The mural crown surmounting the shield is the universal
symbol of domains' coats of arms; argent (silver) with eight towers, only five
of them visible in perspective view, it classifies a town of second rank or
county seat.
c) Azure (blue) is the heraldic symbol of justice, nobleness,
perseverance, zeal and loyalty.
d) The fess wavy argent (silver) charged
with a native headdress gules and sable makes the arms canting, alluding to the
town's namesake, Shark River (Rio Tubarão).
e) The fesses sable in bend and
bend sinister represent the roads converging to Tubarão as means of
communication.
f) The fleur-de-lis argent (silver) evokes the town's patron
saint, Our Lady of the Piety.
g) The winged helmet or, symbol of commerce,
recalls Tubarão's main source of income.
h) The electric turbines argent
(silver) recall the steam plants established in the municipality that supplied
the whole region with electricity.
i) Argent (silver) is a symbol of peace,
friendship, work, prosperity, purity and religious spirit; sable (black) means
dedication, prudence, knowledge, honesty, moderation and science; or (gold) is
a symbol of glory, splendor, greatness, wealth and sovereignty; vert (green) is
a symbol of honor, civility, courtesy, abundance and glee; it is also the
symbol of hope, which is green since greening fields in spring promise profuse
harvests.
j) The maize and rice plants represent the main products of the
generous and fertile soil.
k) The scroll gules (red), a color symbol of
self-esteem, dedication, audacity, intrepidity, courage and valiance, is
inscribed with the toponym "Tubarão" and the date of political emancipation
("1870") of the municipality.
https://leismunicipais.com.br/a/sc/t/tubarao/lei-ordinaria/1991/158/1588/lei-ordinaria-n-1588-1991-altera-a-redacao-do-artigo-19-e-dos-incisos-de-seu-paragrafo-primeiro-constantes-da-lei-n-532-71-que-dispoe-sobre-a-forma-e-apresentacao-dos-simbolos-do-municipio-de-tubarao
Leis Municipais database
The flag in actual use, as opposed to its
representation on the municipal logo, shall have a black saltire superimposed
to the black saltire, in compliance with Arcinoé Antonio Peixote de Faria's
usual designs. The law text, unintelligible regarding the saltire, probably due
to an erroneous transcription of the original description, might be the source
of the error.
Photos
https://www.facebook.com/camara.tubarao/photos/1978435059113636
https://www.facebook.com/camara.tubarao/photos/2024564327834042
Ivan Sache, 8 November 2021
