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Patillas (Puerto Rico)

by Thanh-Tâm Le' , 28 January 1999

Overview
Coat of Arms

See also:

Other Sites:

Leonespatillas.com

Overview

This city of 19,891 inhabitants was founded in 1811. The four green rectangles symbolize our valleys and mountains. The golden cross represents the fidelity to the Patron Saint, Santo Cristo de la Salud. At the centre of the cross, the elongated octogonal design stands for an emerald, since our town is known as the "Emerald of the South".
Thanh-Tâm Le' , 28 January 1999

The flag from Pueblos-de-puertorico.com site (defunct) differs slightly from the one on top. In the center is a green emerald which looks a bit like a handgrenade . Although the description at lexjuris site states that it is octogonal the images on both sites have the emerald rounded. Patillas is southeast Puerto Rico just east of Guayama.
Jarig Bakker, 3 Febuary 2000

Coat of Arms

by Nelson Román, 4 August 2004

The crow with a piece of bread in its beak, bird that saves the life to San Benito Abad, patron of the town, from being poisoned with a piece of bread. The castle with three windows symbolizes the captivity of Santa Barbara, matron of Patillas in the first years of the foundation and the devotion to the Santísima Trinidad. The cross represents Santo Cristo de la Salud. The two crossed machetes underneath the cross represent the peasants struggle in the sugar cane plantations and the origins of economic development. T he three towers in the superior part mean that Patillas is categorized as a town. The watermelon leaf, fruit that abounded in the west of Patillas, is the reason for the name of the town. The motto "Ora Et Labora", means Pray and Work; motto of the religious order of San Benito Abad. The shield of Patillas was drawn by Pedro de Pedro. The symbols and the history are a creation of Pedro J. Rivera Arbolay and the heraldic adviser was Lic. Robert Beascochea Lota.
Nelson Román, 4 August 2004