Last modified: 2015-01-11 by klaus-michael schneider
Keywords: portuguese army | lisbon recruitment office | army apprentices military institute | engineers(3rd) | engineers(6th) | infantry(13th) | acquisition directorate | material &transport directorate |
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Description: Shield partitioned silver and blue. Seven five-rayed
stars, placed in three pales of counterchanged colours.
Symbology:
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The institute is a boy school operated by the Portuguese Army, providing all
levels of primary and secondary education (6-17 y.o.) to prospective
personnel. It was founded in 1911, originally to cater for the (male) children of
sergeants and servicemen of the Navy and Army (no Air Force back then);
officers' children attended the separate, pre-existing Colégio Militar.
Like every other unit of the Portuguese Army, this school has a coat of
arms and the correct guidon is its Banner of Arms. It is Azure above a two-flame
lamp Or flaming Gules a representation of the feathered cap crest of the
school's parade uniform and on a chief Argent three hurts (kind of roundels) Azure.
Helmet; wreath and mantling Azure and Argent and for crest a lion holding
a book and a sword; scroll with motto "Querer é Poder" ("Will is Might",
; and collar of the Order of St. James.
(editorial note:or to wish is to master)
The Banner of Arms is square with the shield charges on it. The arms were devised
Col. Guerreiro Vicente, one of the best Portuguese Heraldists (though for me this
is not one of his best arms) and as in current use drawn and coloured
by Mag. José Colaço, heraldic illustrator extraordinaire.
The lamp stands for education, for it is a school, the feathers are the
best known token of this institutions, and the chief comes from the Castro
family CoA (Argent six roundels Azure in two pales), for the school's
patron is D. João de Castro.
Though this schooll had previously a very different guidon, the Bannr of Arms is now in regular use
(probably much later after the adoption of the CoA).
António Martins-Tuválkin and Jan Mertens, 19 July 2007
Made from a table top flag about 10 cm to the
side I could observe in detail; photographic evidence seems to validate
the details of this design and furthermore hints at continued use till
the 1980ies or even the 1990ies.
It is a dark red guidon with a golden cogwheel between four yellow (yes,
golden and yellow in the same design) armillary spheres. Cornerless
bordure separated from the main panel by a yellow line filled with four
light and three plus to half dark brown triangles on each side and corners
also dark red filled with the monogram "PE" in interwinned script capitals
-- yellow "P" and rosy "E".
António Martins-Tuválkin, 21 July 2007
Finally, there's the flag of the Alumnus' Parents' and Benefactors'
Association, Associação dos Pupilos do Exército. Unlike the current and
previous flags of the school itself, this one is a plain white cloth with
a logo on it; not surprisingly, the said logo is tacky and uninspiring: It
is the umptieth variation of the national arms on a pentagonal shield with
concave sides full with a motto scroll (the same "querer é poder" as the
school) the shiled of the national arms filled with "APE" in black
capitals on a white background, two crossed swords behind the armillary
sphere and a wreath of golden laurels around and below it all. Under the
logo a scroll reading "Associação dos Pupilos do Exército". I've seen
two slightly different variants of this flag, one a table top rigid guidon
like flag, the other a 90 cm hoist "real" flag. These differences lie in the depicting details of the
flag elements.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 21 July 2007
This is the flag of 13th Infantry Regiment of the Portuguese army,
garrisoned in Vila Real, a banner of arms of the corresponding coat of arms,
which was created by the heraldic cabinat of the army. It is blue semy of
silver (i.e. white) 6-point stars between two snow covered mountains in base.
Over all is a forearm in golden armour holding a baton raguly of the same.
Not on the flag but in the arms is the war cry "Aleo"",
referring to Dom Pedro de Meneses, first governor of Ceuta and first
Count of Vila Real. Its the same with the V-shaped cutting and the baton.
The design was made by José Estevéns Colaço.
(translated by Klaus-Michael Schneider)
António Martins-Tuválkin, 4 Oct 2007
The Portuguese Army will send soon to Lebanon its newly created
Engeneers Unit nº3 (UnEng3/FND/UNIFIL), as a part of the UNIFIL
peacekeeping mission. Its arms (and Banner of Arms) were created by the Army Heraldry
Office (memo n.º 905, proc. 254.09, of 2007.09.27), designed by Lt.Col.
Pedroso da Silva and drawn by Master José Estevéns Colaço.
The unit colour is, as usual, a full banner of the arms, which are Sable a Lebanon cedar Argent
between three bees Or ordered 2:1.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 18 Oct 2007
On 23 January 2009, the Portuguese Army Chief of Staff approved the
arms (and, implicitly, the guidon) of the newly created Portuguese Army
Engeneering Unit no.6 (Unidade de Engenharia N.º 6: UnEng6/FND/UNIFIL),
raised to serve in the Portuguese contingent in UNIFIL (United Nations
Interim Force in Lebanon), from July to December 2009.
The guidon is per regulation a square banner of the arms, which are Sable
a honeycomb of six cells Or voided Sable set three and two and one each
containing a cedar Or. (The rest of the CoA, motto and crest is also
interesting, although unaltered to flags.) This design was authored, as
usual, by Lt.-Col. Pedroso da Silva, of the army's Heraldry Bureau. Its
symbolics refer to the labour skills of bees and to the host territory.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 5 Mar 2010
Argent a chief and a pale Azure. Argent/silver stands for balance between the needs of the
Army and the interests of the national treasury; the "T" refers to the duality of book keeping
in- and out-put columns.
The new coat of arms was adopted by the Portuguese Army Chief of staff
on 17 June 2009, authored by Lt.-Col. Pedroso da Silvaand illustrated by
Master painter José Estevéns Colaço, of the Portuguese Army
Heraldry Cabinet.
Source: "Despacho de S. Ex. o General Chefe do Estado-Maior do Exército, de 17 de Junho de 2009".
António Martins-Tuválkin, 18 Feb 2010
Or three trefoils Gules ordered 2:1. Or/gold symbolizes the cyclic renewal of cereal fields,
akin to the unit#s work; trefoils stand fo good luck, and being red here they
stress the toil needed for the three main attributions of the unit:
maintenance, resupply, and transport.
The new coat of arms was adopted by the Portuguese Army Chief of staff
on 17 June 2009, authored by Lt.-Col. Pedroso da Silvaand illustrated by
Master painter José Estevéns Colaço, of the Portuguese Army
Heraldry Cabinet.
Source: "Despacho de S. Ex. o General Chefe do Estado-Maior do Exército, de 17 de Junho de 2009".
António Martins-Tuválkin, 18 Feb 2010
The Military Museum of Elvas is a unite of the Portuguese Army, and as
such recently adopted a CoA. This was issued by the Heraldry Office
of the Portuguese Army (Gabinete de Heráldica do Exército), devised
by Pedroso da Silva (Lt.Col.) and painted by José Colaço (MA).
The shield blazon is: Gules a pale Vair between two swords Or set in pale and
pointing upwards.
his design is usable* as the units flag, but I have no positive information of
this use. Since the museum has no personnel which could form on a
parade and hence no colour/Banner of Arms was issued.
The remaining blazon does not show on the flag design, as usual, but
Heraldry enthusiasts may find it of interest.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 21 Jan 2008
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