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

Mococa, São Paulo State (Brazil)

image by Dirk Schönberger, 8 December 2012
Based on: http://www.mococa.sp.gov.br/acidade.php?informacoes=Brasão%20e%20Bandeira

Description of the Flag

See also:

Description of the Flag

A green flag bearing a narrow yellow saltire, and a narrow red-edged, white upright cross pattée, with the municipal arms in the centre on a white rectangle.

Official website at http://www.mococa.sp.gov.br
Dirk Schönberger, 8 December 2012

The municipality of Mococa (66,303 inhabitants in 2010; 85,407 ha) is located in north-eastern São Paulo State, on the border with Minas Gerais, 275 km of São Paulo. Mococa was founded in the middle of the 19th century by immigrants from Minas Gerais. In 1839, Antônio José Gomes and his mother offered a piece of land to establish the settlement of São Sebastião da Boa Vista. Four years later, the settlement was transferred near the bank of river Meio, on land belonging to José Gomes de Lima. The name of Mococa is said to have been coined in 1844 by Captain Custódio José Dias, from Tupi-Guarani words meaning "small huts". Coffee cultivation started in 1845. The municipality of São Sebastião da Boa Vista was established on 24 March 1871 by Provincial Law No. 29, seceding from Casa Branca. The name of Mococa was adopted on 25 August 1892 by State Law No. 80.

The flag is green, divided in eight quarters by a thin yellow saltire and a thin Cross of the Order of Christ. In the middle of the flag is placed a white rectangle charged with the municipal coat of arms.

Photos of the flag
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/17234931 http://www.mococa.sp.gov.br/departamentos/antigo/etc_arquivos/saudeanexos/saude_10.12.2010.gif http://www.mococa.sp.gov.br/departamentos/publicacoes/20120926151000%20(2).jpg http://www.mococa.sp.gov.br/departamentos/publicacoes/20121019161100.jpg http://www.mococa.sp.gov.br/departamentos/publicacoes/20120518162400%20(1).jpg http://www.mococa.sp.gov.br/tvprefeitura.php

[Here the Cross of the Order of Christ appears to have a broader red border, which makes it more easily recognizable. This is, however, a detail of minor significance, if any.]

The coat of arms was designed by Afonso d'Escragnolle Taunay* and produced in São Paulo. The shield is rounded-off, Portuguese. In chief are placed five escutcheons, from left to right:
- "Azure a Latin cross or", recalling the founder of the town, Diogo Garcia da Cruz.
- "Argent a fig ['figueira'] leaf vert", recalling Gabriel Garcia de Figueiredo, and the symbol of the Figueiredo family on the old Portuguese armorials.
- "Azure a small chapel proper"; evoking the early São Sebastião da Boa Vista chapel, at the origin of the town.
- "Or two palls gules", from the Lima coat of arms on the old Portuguese armorials, recalling the pioneer José Cristovam de Lima.
- "Azure a ten-pointed star or", the Dias coat of arms on the old Portuguese armorials, recalling Custódio José Dias.

The main part of the shield reproduces a painting by Viscount of Taunay**, dated 1865, which is one of the oldest iconographical documents on Mococa. The scene represents the Alegria Estate, owned by Diogo Garcia da Cruz, and its surroundings. The shield is divided by a fess wavy azure, representing river Meio, characteristic of the urban topography of Mococa. The fess is surmounted by a row of primitive huts ("mocoquinhas") represented according to the rules of Portuguese heraldry. The shield is surmounted by a mural crown argent, symbol of a municipality. The shield is supported by two branches of coffee proper, recalling that coffee cultivation was once the main source of income for the municipality. Below the shield is placed a red scroll inscribed with the motto "TERRA MEA PAULISTA GENEROSA" (My land, Paulista and generous).

*Afonso d'Escragnolle Taunay (1876-1958) was a genealogist, lexicographer and historian, noted for his studies on the São Paulo pioneers ("História geral das bandeiras paulistas", 11 volumes, 1924-1950) and coffee cultivation in Brazil ("História do café no Brasil", 11 volumes, 1929-1941). He was elected in 1929 at the Brazilian Academy of Letters.
http://www.academia.org.br/abl/cgi/cgilua.exe/sys/start.htm?sid=88 - Website of the Brazilian Academy of Letters

**Alfredo d'Escragnolle Taunay (1843-1899), a writer, historian and politician, was Afonso d'Escragnolle Taunay's father. Involved in the Paraguayan War, he published in 1872 his most famous book , "La Retraite de Laguna" ("The Retreat of Laguna"), written in French and translated into Portuguese two years later. He served as the Governor of Paraná in 1885-1886.
Ivan Sache, 9 December 2012