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Last modified: 2016-05-16 by ivan sache
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Flag of Corpa - Image by Ivan Sache, 6 July 2015
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The municipality of Cubas de la Sagra (5,738 inhabitants in 2014; 1,282 ha; municipal website) is located in the south of the Community of Madrid, on the border with Castilla-La Mancha (Province of Toledo).
Cubas de la Sagra was first mentioned on a document signed in 1208 by King Alfonso VIII, establishing the limits between the Councils of Madrid and Segovia. Allocated to Madrid, Cubas was granted the status of villa by Henry III in the early 15th century. In 1445, John II transferred the village of Luis de la Cerda, who sold it two years later to Alfonso Álvarez de Toledo. The subsequent lords of Cubas were in constant struggle with the Council of Madrid, which required arbitration by the Catholic Monarchs.
In 1449, the apparition of the Blessed Virgin to a young shepherd called Inés increased the fame of the village; a chapel and a nun's convent were erected on the site of the miracle. Cubas was transferred in the 16th century to the Marquis of Pova, who married in the 17th century the Marchioness of Malpica. María Blanca Fernández de Córdoba was made in 1862 Marchioness of Cuba by Queen Isabel II, without any connection with the village.
Ivan Sache, 6 July 2015
The flag (photo, photos) and arms of Cubas de la Sagra are prescribed by a Decree adopted on 4 April 1991 by the Government of the Community of Madrid and published on 29 May 1991 in the official gazette of the Community of Madrid, No. 126, p. 21 (text) and on 16 July 1991 in the Spanish official gazette, No. 169, p. 23,671 (text).
The symbols are described as follows:
Flag: In proportions 2:3. Gyronny at hoist, green, red and white, charged with the so-called Cross of Alfonso VI, like the coat of arms.
Coat of arms: Per fess, 1. Vert a so-called Cross of Alfonso VI argent, 2a. Gules three barrels, 2b. Azure two caldrons or fessy argent and gules a bordure argent seven ermine spots. The shield surmounted by a Royal crown closed.
Suggestions to be taken into account:
1. The barrels should be represented horizontally, not vertically as drawn on the proposal, such an arrangement being considered as unusual.
2. The representation of the ermine spots should be improved, those shown on the proposal looking like anchors.
The Cross of Alfonso VI recalls that the king reconquerred Toledo and Cubas from the Moors. The barrels (cubas) recall the rural origin of the town and make the arms canting. The caldrons belong to the arms of Juan Ramírez de Guzmán, first lord of the town.
These arms were a bone of contention between the municipality and the Community of Madrid. The proposed arms were rejected because there was no historical evidence that Alfonso VI ever visited Cubas. The Community insisted that the barrels should be represented lying, instead of standing (this was mentioned in the very unusual "suggestion" paragraph appended to the description of the arms in the Decree), which the municipality refused - quite ironically, the fountain erected on the town's main square (photos) as a tribute to the wine-growers features three lying barrels, "for the sake of aesthetic".
[El Pais, 25 September 1997]
The so-called Cross of Alfonso VI is used as its emblem by the Ilustre y Antiquísima Hermandad Caballeros y Damas Mozárabes de Nuestra Señora de la Esperanza de la Imperial Ciudad de Toledo (presentation), a brotherhood grouping the Toledo lineages of demonstrated Mozarabic origin.
The cross, of Mozarabic style, is white with a golden border, with four equal arms each ending with three points. In the middle of the cross is placed a blue disc charged with the old arms of Toledo, "Azure an Imperial crown or furred gules".
The cross was featured on coins minted in Toledo in the time of Alfonso VI. Such a coin is reproduced as a medallion of 2.8 m in diameter, part of the giant statue of Alfonso VI (photo) designed by Luis Martín de Vidales and erected in Toledo. Alfonso VI's coins are considered as the first Christian coins minted in Iberia (see Mozo Monroy, M, García Montes, FJ. 2011.Aporte histórico y documental sobre el dinero de busto godo de Alfonso VI, rey de León y Castilla. Gaceta Numismática 180, 67-82 PDF]).
Ivan Sache, 6 July 2015
