![[Village of Floriana (Malta)]](../images/m/mt-cl-flor.gif)
image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 15 October 2008
Last modified: 2013-06-29 by rob raeside
Keywords: sovereign and military order of malta | antonio manoel de vilhena | vilhena | grandmaster |
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image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 15 October 2008
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The flag of Floriana, Malta
is "based on" --actually identical to-- the arms of Grand Master Antonio
Manoel de Vilhena (reigned 1722-1736), "per fess Argent a lion Gules the head Or
and Gules a winged arm clothed with a maniple Or holding a sword Argent":
http://www.smom-za.org/smom/grandmasters/66.htm.
The arms can be
clearly seen (though in uncoloured stone), quartered as usually with that of the
SMOM, in these two photographs of the Mdina gate and of a 1726 cannon guarding
the co-cathedral of St. John (Valletta):
http://www.heraldica.org/topics/national/malta/malta16.jpg, and
http://www.heraldica.org/topics/national/malta/malta43.jpg.
According to
this webpage
http://www.smom-za.org/smom/grandmasters/66.htm:
"Grand Master Manoel de
Vilhena was a wealthy and lovable but firm Portuguese aristocrat of royal
descent. The inscription on his magnificent mausoleum in St. John's affirms this
with the words "he was not elected but born a prince". He was a benevolent and
popular ruler. To meet the demand for housing and accommodation in Valletta he
laid the plans for the building of a suburb in the neighbourhood, Floriana,
where his statue still stands today at a prominent place outside the Maglio
Gardens. He built Fort Manoel in Marsamxett Creek, and also the Manoel Theatre
which is believed to be the second oldest theatre in Europe and is still in use
today."
There is an interesting article "Grand Master’s sword slashes
Floriana council" by Karl Schembri, dated 27 February 2005:
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/2005/02/27/t17.html:
"The sword of Grand
Master Anton Manoel de Vilhena is the latest source of controversy in the local
council of Floriana. "The whole issue revolves around the authenticity of the
current council’s coat of arms featuring the emblem of the patron Grand Master:
a lion and a sword on a white and red background. Former Mayor and now
independent councillor Nigel Holland, together with other vehement Furjanizi,
want to remove the sword, insisting that the Grand Master only granted the lion
from his own coat of arms when he inaugurated the Valletta suburb and named it
Borgo Vilhena. "The fountain with the statue of a majestic lion guarding the
entry into Floriana, built by the Grand Master around 1728, as well as several
other representations of the lion on historic local emblems, seem to give
credence to Holland’s case, but the mayor disagrees. Holland insists the sword
was erroneously inserted in the council’s coat of arms and “imposed by central
government” when it set up the first local councils back in 1993. He is
proposing a council motion “to rehabilitate the coat of arms, in respect to
history and to our forefathers” and to adopt the official one bearing “the red
lion on a white background, as it should be”.
(...)
“On the other hand
mayor Agius insists that the sword should remain where it is. “I conducted my
own research and it is clear that the sword should remain there,” Agius said.
“The truth is that de Vilhena’s coat of arms was too similar to Grand Master de
La Cassiere’s emblem, so he started including the sword to differentiate from
his predecessor’s. So if Floriana is Borgo Vilhena then it should reflect his
emblem. I’m convinced of that.”
(...)
"The motion is expected to be put to
a vote on 22 March. Up until then, the Grand Master’s sword will keep hanging
over the Valletta suburb."
Mayor Agius' research appears to be quite
good: GM La Cassiere (1572-1581)'s arms was indeed "Argent a lion Gules", and,
moreover GM Vilhena frequently used, not the lion, but the winged arm with sword
alone, for instance on coins minted during his reign, as can be
seen on this stamp:
http://www.smom-za.org/images/smomgm66_3.jpg.
Santiago Dotor, 16 March 2006
