^{This page is part of © FOTW Flags Of The World website}

Barra Mansa, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)

Joseph McMillan

About the Flag

See also:

About the Flag of Barra Mansa

The flag of Barra Mansa is a horizontal triband, white-blue-white, with a large municipal coat of arms overall. The coat of arms was adopted on 16 September 1970 by Deliberation No. 1045. In the first quarter, on a field purpure (dark red) are three gold arrows in honor of St. Sebastian, under whose patronage the town was founded. The arrows are stated to be the instruments of St. Sebastian's martyrdom, although St. Sebastian's legendary miracle is having survived being shot with arrows; he was then beaten to death. The "purple" field is said to be the color of Roman authority, a reference to Sebastian's having been a Roman soldier. In the second quarter is a landscape showing the confluence of the Barra Mansa River and the Paraíba do Sul River, between the Serra do Mar and Serra da Mantiqueira mountains--the geographic feature from which the municipality takes its name. The third quarter is parted per fess of three pieces, yellow, white, and yellow, with symbols representing agriculture (a plow), stock-raising (a cow), and industry (a gear). In the fourth quarter, on a blue field, is a shield of the Order of Christ ensigned with a baron's helmet, in honor of Custódio Ferreira Leite, Baron de Aiuruoca, donor of the glebe of the Chapel of St. Sebastian on which the settlement was first built. The baron's own arms are not known, but a portrait of him is adorned with the cross of the order. The motto is Pax - Ivs - Labor (Peace, justice, labor). The shield is surrounded by a stalk of sugarcane and a coffee branch.
Source: www.brancow.hpg.ig.com.br/brasao.htm
Joseph McMillan, 30 July 2002