Last modified: 2005-08-26 by antonio martins
Keywords: sea merchant flags | merchant flags | cross: christ knights’ order | bezants | quinas |
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The actual use of flags depicted in old maps and charts is not
always confirmed; these flags were used by cartogrphers to mark
portuguese-held territories in navigation maps. Obviously, the fact
that this or that flag was registered in a map from a particular
year does not mean that its use was restricted to that time nor
that it was the only one then used by portuguese commercial vessels.
Also, the phantasy and uninformedness of most cartographers, many of
them not navigators nor living in Portugal and modern misinterpretations
make some details doubtful…
António Martins, 22 May 1997