Alter do Chão Municipality (Portugal)

Last modified: 2005-08-26 by antonio martins
Keywords: alter do chão | coat of arms: per fess | fleurs-de-lis: 2 | fleur-de-lis (golden) | fountain | castle (red) | quina |
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• Presentation of Alter do Chão

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About the flag

The flag is quarterly yellow over red with the coat of arms in the centre. The coat of arms has a 4-towered mural crown, a typical scroll that reads "VILA DE ALTER DO CHÃO" and the shield is horizontally divided silver over black. The silver filed is charged with a red castle with three towers and black door and windows, sided by two “quinas”. The black field is charged by a golden fountain (with blue flowing water), sided by two golden fleurs-de-lis. Quite a nice coat of arms, in my humble opinion.
Jorge Candeias, 20 Jun 1998

Trying to guess the meaning of the coat of arms, I'd make the educated guess that there are or where somewhere in the municipality some thermal facilities (the fountain seems to reflect that), the castle, as usual, symbolizes some sort of fortifications (I seem to recall that there is even today a castle there), and the fleur-de-lis may have something to do with the french invasions. If somebody has more info, please come forward.
Jorge Candeias, 20 Jun 1998