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Last modified: 2014-06-29 by klaus-michael schneider
Keywords: algarve | head: moor | head: king |
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The moorish and christian kings in the Algarve municipal arms (13 out of 16 municipalities) shows a little different in each different coat of arms — and often the same arms show appreciable differences in various depictions.
Algarvan heads and azorean goshawk are
the only distinctive regional charges in our municipal heraldry (plus the
star in the municipalities of the Estrela Range
region, though in a much
lesser degree), having all the other charges a more local / historical
character. The reasons for this are different, I think. Although in the
Algarve what happens is that it used to be a de jure separate kingdom
under a personal union with Portugal until the 20’s of the last century,
thus having it’s own set of symbols (although no
flag, as far as I know),
in my humble opinion the goshawk derives from the obvious graphical
expression of the name of the islands, since I don’t think they ever had
arms until they became autonomous in the ’70s.
Jorge Candeias, 31 Mar 1999
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Yesterday on TV during the motorcyclist concentration in Faro a man was
wearing a pin/patch on his jacket with a coat-of-arms of Algarve, but with
blue on the christian quarters and white on the moor’s,
instead of gold and red. The crown was also not right, it seemed more
like a golden mural crown in the style of Lisbon.
João Madureira, 20 Jul 2003
That’s how it is used curently. That shield with blue and white
quartering is almost the only one that appears in modern renditions of the
thing in colour. Almost. There is also another rendition of the arms, part of
the symbol of the Cycling Association of the Algarve, that shows the christian
kings on white and the moorish kings on black and red.
(There’s a good image at
www.aciclismo.org/.)
Jorge Candeias, 20 Jul 2003
There’s also a red and white variation, seldom seen, except in regional
boy and girl scout symbology. An example here:
www.esec-tomas-cabreira.rcts.pt/algarve/brasaoalgarve.jpg.
Jorge Candeias, 20 Jul 2003
I have a picture of an ancient map of the the century XVIII, showing the
coat of arms of Algarve (Portugal). Based in the Portuguese flag I draw a
possible flag: in these century, Algarve was a Kingdom and with this status
must have an own flag, and these flag only can be like every portuguese flag
of the period, white with the coat of arms in the center (v.g. the
Portuguese flag,
the principality of Brazil, etc).
André Godinho, 20 Jul 2003
I think it is highly unlikely that anything of the sort ever
existed. It would appear in at least some old maps and flag charts, just like
it happens with the flags of Portugal and Brazil. It doesn’t, at least
as far as current knowledge goes.
Usually, the moor’s head in the Algarve arms is not the
corsican/sardinian
moor’s head. Our moors are kings: they had more detailed heads, covered by
turbans and without any ribbons, and with brown skin, not black.
Jorge Candeias, 20 Jul 2003
The map shows an Algarvian arms with a moor’s head like the
corsican/sardinian
moor’s head and the color of the skin is black, is a picture
called Portugallia et Algarbia of Fernando Álvaro Seco,
Amsterdam, 1647 (38,5 × 50,2 cm).
André Godinho, 20 Jul 2003
All other representations of the arms of Algarve
that I’ve seen, and they were several, mostly, but not exclusively,
modern, show the moorish kings with a turban in their heads, just like
what one may see in most of today’s municipal arms in the Algarve.
The only difference between the moorish kings in these arms and in the arms
of Algarve is that in the former they are shown face on and on the latter
they are shown in profile.
Jorge Candeias, 20 Jul 2003
The traditional region Algarve has an area of
4982 km2, and a population of 343 850
inhabitants as of 1990, living in
16 municipalities. The territory coincides exactly with the
Faro District.
António Martins, 24 Jul 2001
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