Santarém District (Portugal)

Last modified: 2015-09-05 by klaus-michael schneider
Keywords: santarém | castle (red) | cross: templar pointy | stars: ring | star: 6 points (yellow) | stars: 21 | lezíria | marsh | agriculture | river tagus |
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• Description of the flag
• Presentation of the district
• Emblem detail

• Municipalities in this district (clickable map):
  • Abrantes
  • Alcanena
  • Almeirim
  • Alpiarça
  • Benavente
  • Cartaxo
  • Chamusca
  • Constância
  • Coruche
  • Entroncamento
  • Ferreira do Zêzere
  • Golegã
  • Mação
  • Ourém
  • Rio Maior
  • Salvaterra de Magos
  • Santarém
  • Sardoal
  • Tomar
  • Torres Novas
  • Vila Nova da Barquinha
• Portuguese district flags
• Ribatejo Tourism Region
• Portugal

• www.gov-civil-santarem.pt/, district government official website, where a picture of the flag can be seen among several pictures.
  reported by Pascal Vagnat, 21 Feb 1999

Description of the flag

A horizontal triband of yellow (1), light blue (3) and yellow (1); in the center, a device that might be colored armorial seal (but the charges are not those of the Santarém municipal arms), surrounded by 21 five-pointed yellow stars, symbolizing the district’s municipalities.
Antonio Martins, 30 Jul 1999

The flag of the District of Santarém was adopted in 1988.
Pascal Vagnat, 01 Dec 1999

Presentation of Santarém District

The district of Santarém has an area of 6747 sq. km., and a population of around 460 000 inhabitants. It includes 21 municipalities, the economy is mostly rural, though there are some areas with industries. It occupies nearly the same territory of the old province of Ribatejo, and is crossed from northeast to southwest by the Tejo (Tagus) river. It is, therefore, placed in the center of the country.
Jorge Candeias, 19 Apr 1998

Emblem detail

Blue flag with two stripes of gold. Between these, centered, a castle — with three towers — of red, masoned in black, open and lit of gold, over a background of the same metal, having, in chief, a red and white Cross of Christ and, in counter-chief, a green and silver marsh. All this is surrounded by two concentric circles in white, with the inscription, in black, "Distrito de Santarém" [District of Santarém]. All this surrounded by twenty one six-pointed stars in gold.

The symbolism:

• The central blue stripe represents the Tejo River and all the water resources of the region.
• The two golden stripes, the agricultural wealth of the District.
• The castle — with three towers — the monumental and diverse wealth of the district.
• The Cross of Christ, the religious orders and other legacies of the Church.
• The marsh, the unique characteristic of the region with it’s fertile marshes [note: this "marsh", what’s called in portuguese "lezíria", is a vast plain that floods in the winter, the best agricultural lands of the Lower Tagus.]
• The twenty one golden stars, the 21 municipalities that compose the District of Santarém.

governor’s cabinet, quoted by Pascal Vagnat, 01 Dec 1999, translated by Jorge Candeias, 02 Dec 1999

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