Portugal - district flags

Last modified: 2005-08-26 by antonio martins
Keywords: district | district governor |
Links: FOTW homepage | search | disclaimer and copyright | write us | mirrors

• About Portuguese districts flags
• District governor rank flag
• List of current Portuguese districts (clickable map):
  • Aveiro District
  • Beja District
  • Braga District
  • Bragança District
  • Castelo Branco District
  • Coimbra District
  • Évora District
  • Faro District
  • Guarda District
  • Leiria District
  • Lisboa District
  • Portalegre District
  • Porto District
  • Santarém District
  • Setúbal District
  • Viana do Castelo District
  • Vila Real District
  • Viseu District
• Former districts in Azores (Horta, Ponta Delgada and Angra do Heroísmo)
• Former Funchal district in Madeira

• Subdivisions of Portugal
• Portugal

About Portuguese districts flags

Only three district flags are known for the moment (Aveiro, Santarém and Viseu). The question is: are they part of the law on the local and regional emblems?
Pascal Vagnat, 28 Jul 1999

The law is not explicit about which entities it may apply — and districts may be either in or out its scope. At any rate, however, none of the known district flags follow the pattern prescribed by that law.
Antonio Martins, 30 Jul 1999

Other districts may have flags still unseen by us or none at all. All of those very seldom seen — district governors (also very seldom seen themselves), in “institucional pose”, usually appear in front of (or by the side of) the portuguese national flag.
Antonio Martins, 30 Jul 1999

It is odd that in Portugal the locally elected bodies (commune and municipality goverments / parlaments and the once to be regional ones) have their arms approved (and in prectice chosen) by a central government entity, who also sets severe rules for the flags — and yet seems that the district goverments, that are appointed by the central government and not locally elected, make up their own flags as pleased... Odd.
Antonio Martins, 30 Jul 1999

Usually, self elected territorial administrations have their own locally chosen symbols, while centrally appointed territorial administrations either use the symbols of the State or have their own symbols chosen by a central institution (usually these being variations of the same theme). In some other cases, a central institution, usually of h