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San Roque (Municipality, Andalusia, Spain)

Flag of San Roque, left, as used - Image by António Martins, 4 June 2016; right, as prescribed - Image from the Símbolos de Cadíz website, 28 November 2009

Presentation of San Roque
Symbols of San Roque
Banners of Gibraltar

See also:

Presentation of San Roque

The municipality of San Roque (29,536 inhabitants in 2013; 14,000 ha; municipal website) is located 130 km south-east of Cádiz, a few km north of Gibraltar.

"La Muy Noble y Más Leal Ciudad de San Roque, donde reside la de Gibraltar" (The very noble and most loyal town of San Roque, the place of the town of Gibraltar) was founded in 1706, which gave an official status to the settlement established by the Spanish inhabitants of Gibraltar on 4 August 1704, during the War of the Spanish Succession. After the seizure of Gibraltar by the Anglo-Dutch fleet commanded by Admiral Rooke, the British flag was hoisted over the town; some 5,000 Spaniards refused to acknowledge the new power and moved together to the neighbouring hill surmounted by the old San Roch Chapel, built in 1508. The exiles brought with them as much of their heritage as possible, including the Banner of Gibraltar, the Letters Patented signed in 1502 that granted a coat of arms to the town of Gibraltar, and most of the civil and religious archives of the town. The historical, white town of San Roque was proclaimed an Artistic- Historical Monument in 1975; its bullring, built in 1853, is the second oldest in the Province of Cádiz and among the oldest ones in Andalusia.

Ivan Sache, 7 July 2009

Symbols of San Roque

The flag and arms of San Roque, submitted on 21 August 2007 to the Directorate General of the Local Administration, are prescribed by a Decree adopted on 6 September 2007 by the Directorate General of the Local Administration and published on 18 September 2007 in the official gazette of Andalusia, No. 184, p. 10 (text).
The symbols are described as follows:

Flag: Panel in proportions 3:2 (length per hoist), horizontally divided in two parts: the upper, 2/3 of the hoist, white, and the lower, 1/3 of the hoist, red. In the center of the panel is placed the municipal coat of arms.
Coat of arms: Shield in Spanish shape. Divided per fess debased, Argent a castle from which hangs a chain with three links or with a key of the same on the base gules, the ward dexterwise; an orle or. The shield surmounted by a Royal crown open.

The flag in official use (photo, February 2016), however, has the two stripes of equal size. There are also slight differences in the coat of arms, the most relevant being that the key is turned with the ward pointing sinister (to the hoist).

The castle symbolizes the defense of the Strait of Gibraltar. So does the key, symbolizing also the situation of the town between the western and eastern seas.
[Símbolos de las Entidades Locales de Andalucía. Cádiz (PDF file)]

Ivan Sache, António Martins & Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán, 4 June 2016

Banner of Gibraltar

Banner of Gibraltar - Image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 21 December 2009

The Banner of Gibraltar (Pendón de Gibraltar) kept in the Town Hall of San Roque (photo), is said to have been embroidered in 1502 by Queen of Castile Joanna the Mad. The flag is red with on one side the arms of Charles III and on the other side a shield with the castle and key of Gibraltar, surmounted by the coronet of the Dukes of Medinaceli.
José Luis Calvo Peréz and Luis Grávalos González (Banderas de España [g2c83]) shows an image of the flag, said to be a reproduction shown in Carteya, No. 2, February 1976. The flag, made of purple taffeta, has approximate 11:12 proportions. In the centre of the flag is the coat of arms, surrounded by silver and golden embroideries shaped like plants. In each corner is also a single embroidered flower. The flag is framed by a golden fringe.

Santiago Dotor, Ivan Sache & Klaus-Michael Schneider, 21 December 2009