Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil)

Last modified: 2003-11-22 by joe mcmillan
Keywords: rio grande do sul | porto alegre | coat of arms |
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by Joseph McMillan

• About the Flag

• Index of Brazil Pages
• State of Rio Grande do Sul
• Municipal Flags of Rio Grande do Sul
• Brazilian Municipal Flags

About the Flag of Porto Alegre

The flag of Porto Alegre was approved on 12 July 1974 by law no. 3893. It is white with the coat of arms of the city on the center. The coat of arms dates from 1953, when it was approved by law no. 1030 of 22 January. It is divided per fess into three fields. The first is gold with the cross of the Portuguese Order of Christ, commemorating the Portuguese discoveries carried out under that emblem. The second is blue with the colonial city gate built in 1773. The third is green with the caravel Nossa Senhora da Alminha, which brought the first settlers to Porto Alegre in 1751. The colors are also ascribed their own symbolism: gold for fidelity, blue for the sky, green for the waters and fields of the "sacred gaúcho soil," red for faith and love, and silver for serenity and nobility. The colors selected are also those that appear in the national (green, yellow, blue, and white) and state (green, red, and yellow) flags. The scroll above the shield and crown reads, Leal e Valoroso Cidade de Porto Alegre, or "Loyal and Valorous City of Porto Alegre," a title given by Emperor Dom Pedro II in 1841 for the city's loyalty to the throne during the Farroupilha rebellion.
Source: Porto Alegre page of www.citybrazil.com.
Joseph McMillan, 22 March 2002