![[Taubaté,
SP (Brazil)]](../images/b/br-sp-tb.gif)
image by Joseph McMillanAdopted 7 July 1972
Last modified: 2008-08-02 by ian macdonald
Keywords: sao paulo | taubate | coat of arms |
Links: FOTW homepage |
search |
disclaimer and copyright |
write us |
mirrors
image by Joseph McMillan
Adopted 7 July 1972
Other sites:
The flag of Taubaté was created by municipal law number 1358 on July 7,
1972. It was designed by Emílio Amadei Beringhs, who entered it in a public
contest sponsored by the city hall when Guido Miné was the mayor of the
city. It won the contest and then it was adopted as the city's flag in the
same year. Its design - a cobalt blue rectangle and a white lozenge - recalls the
design of the Brazilian national flag, but in different colors.
Blue and white have been the colors traditionally related to the history of Taubaté,
since its remotest times. Blue and white were the colors of Portugal's flag at the time the Portuguese
colonized Brazil. Such colors can also be found in a cross on the coat of
arms of the Countess of Vimieiro, landowner of the province of Itanhaém, in
whose lands Taubaté was founded around 1640 by Jacques Félix. They were
also the colors of a traditional religious order of Taubaté in colonial
times - The Order of Our Lady of the Good Death. Nowadays, blue and white are the
colors of ACIT (the Portuguese abbreviation for Taubaté's Commercial and
Industrial Association), founded in 1891, Taubaté's football (soccer) team, founded in 1914, Taubaté's
Country Club (1934), as well as all the buildings belonging to the City Hall
and to the University. In the center of the white lozenge there is the Taubaté coat of arms in
its original colors. In the left top corner, on the blue field, there is a
star that represents Quiririm, a little village founded and colonized by
Italian immigrants, which still belongs to the city of Taubaté.
Source:
Website sponsored by Taubaté's City Hall
Daniel Vitor, 17 April 2003
The municipal symbols of Taubaté are described in more detail in a booklet
in the Library of Congress, Paulo Camilher Florençano's O Brazão e a
Bandeira de Taubaté (Taubaté, SP: Prefeitura Municipal, 1972). The image above is
based on the construction specifications contained
in this book, using a retouched version of the coat of arms from the
municipal website that was provided by Daniel Vitor. Following the official
specifications results in a
slightly smaller lozenge and star than shown in the image of the flag on the
municipal site.
Joseph McMillan, 17 April 2003
A Portuguese shield bearing, on its top half, three mural crowns and three
mountain peaks in gold on a cobalt blue background. On the bottom half, on
a green background, is a river (the Paraíba) and a taba, as the
local Amerindians called their settlements in the Tupi language back in the
foundation times. Above the shield, there is a golden mural crown, having in
its center a silver escutcheon with five small circular red signs. On each
side of the Portuguese shield is a supporter: on the left, a
bandeirante - a member of exploring expeditions into the hinterland of
Brazil in conquest of new land, gold and precious stones, who used to depart
from Taubaté; and on the right, a member of the Emperor's Guard. Brazil
became an Empire after its independence from Portugal (1822) and remained so
up to the Proclamation of the Republic in 1889. Also flanking the shield
shield, there are a branch of coffee and one of rice, on the left and on the
right, respectively. They represent the crops that made Taubaté famous in
old times. Under the shield, there is a golden banner with the Latin motto:
Per aspera pro Brasilia (all the sacrifice for Brazil), originally in
blue, but on many of the flags flown in the city it also appears in black.
This Coat of Arms is the official seal of the city, stamped on all documents
issued by Taubaté's City Hall.
Source: Website
sponsored by Taubaté city hall
Daniel Vitor, 17 April 2003
According to Florençano, the current coat of arms was
designed in 1931 as a change to an earlier 1926 version, but was not legally
adopted until 21 March 1950 (municipal law 2/50). In addition to the
symbolism mentioned in Daniel Vitor's message, the Florençano booklet also
says the blue field stands for happiness, wisdom, loyalty, and clarity while
white is for purity, joy, beauty, and victory. By the way, I believe the
more conventional translation of per aspera is
"through difficulties." Thus the Taubaté motto
would be "Through difficulties for Brazil."
Joseph McMillan, 17 April 2003
Taubaté is a city with about 250,000 inhabitants, in the State of São Paulo,
Brazil. It is a university and industrial city (Ford, Volkswagen and many
other plants can be found here) and it lies in the Paraíba River valley,
between the cities of São Paulo, capital of the State of São Paulo (120km)
and Rio de Janeiro, capital of the State of Rio de Janeiro (280km), in
southeastern Brazil.
Daniel Vitor, 17 April 2003
