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Beas (Municipality, Andalusia, Spain)

Flag of Beas - Image from the Símbolos de Huelva website, 18 August 2016

Presentation of Beas
Symbols of Beas

See also:

Presentation of Beas

The municipality of Beas (4,304 inhabitants in 2015; 14,466 ha; municipal website) is located 30 km north of Huelva.

Beas was established on a small hill (123 m asl) at the junction of the south-north road connecting Trigueros to the regin of Andévalo and the mountains and of the west-east transhumance road connecting the County of Niebla to the fertile Portuguese lands. In the 16th century, the historian Rodrigo Caro claimed that the name of the town comes from the Latin word veas / vehas, "a place of transit" or "a road junction". More recent studies, however, have provided evidence that Beas comes from the Mozarab word vea, "a plain" or "a fertile place", referring to the crops irrigated for centuries by river Trigueros.
The urban development of Beas is typical of a village built along roads, the church being established at the highest point. The old village spreads between the church and the river, with sinuous, narrow streets. The upper part of the village was settled later, in the 16th-19th century, along rectilinear streets converging to the church's square.

Beas was already settled in the Prehistoric times, as evidenced by dolmens, tombs, axes... Remains of a rural Roman villa were found near the St. Benedict's Fountain, dated to the Lower Empire. Artefacts from a destroyed Arab necropolis indicate that Beas was probably a significant settlement at the time.
Beas was first documented in 1262, following the conquest of the Kingdom of Niebla from the Moors. The hamlet of Beas, together with San Benito del Alamo (disappeared), was incorporated to the Council of Niebla by Alfonso X.
In 1342, Alfonso XI transferred Beas to Juan Alonso de la Cerda, lord of Gibraleón. Reincorporated to Niebla after Cerda's death, Beas became part of the domain of Juan Alonso de Guzmán, lord of Sanlúcar de Barrameda, whose lineage owned Beas until the suppression of the feudal system in the 19th century.

Ivan Sache, 18 August 2016

Symbols of Beas

The flag of Beas (photo), adopted on 9 June 1998 by the Municipal Council and validated on 23 March 2000 by the Royal Academy of Córdoba, is prescribed by Decree No. 335, adopted on 27 June 2000 by the Government of Andalusia and published on 20 July 2000 in the official gazette of Andalusia, No. 83, p. 11,719 (text). This was confirmed by a Resolution adopted on 30 November 2004 by the Directorate General of the Local Administration and published on 20 December 2004 in the official gazette of Andalusia, No. 246, pp. 28,986-29,002 (text).
The flag is described as follows:

Flag: On a yellow background, two diagonal bundles of [five] white and blue stripes ascending from the lower left and right corner and converging to the center of the upper border, the municipal coat of arms in the center of the flag.

The flag was designed by Juan José Antequera Luengo. Two proposals were submitted to public choice on 8-9 June 1996; the selected design gained 50 out of the 67 votes. The yellow shade is described as "dark lemon". The author recognizes that the inclusion of the municipal coat of arms "does not bring anything to the emblem".
[Juan José Antequera. Principios de transmisibilidad en las heráldicas officiales de Sevilla, Córdoba y Huelva]

The coat of arms of Beas is prescribed by Decree No. 301, adopted on 15 February 1968 by the Spanish Government and published on 26 February 1968 in the Spanish official gazette, No. 49, pp. 2,918-2,919 (text). This was confirmed by a Resolution adopted on 30 November 2004 by the Government of Andalusia and published on 20 December 2004 in the official gazette of Andalusia, No. 246, pp. 28,986-29,002 (text).
The coat of arms is described as follows:

Coat of arms: Per pale, 1. Quarterly per saltire, 1. and 3. Azure a caldron checky or and gules handled by seven snake's heads vert, 2. and 4. Argent five ermine spots sable in saltire, a bordure compony gules and argent 7 and 7 the first charged with a castle or the second charged with a lion purpure, 2. Gules a bugle or and a knife argent hilted or in saltire. The shield surmounted by a Royal crown closed.

The arms were designed by Vicente de Cadenas y Vicent, King Chronicler of Arms, hired on 11 February 1967 by the municipality, which validated the proposal on 5 March 1968. The arms were approved on 9 February 1968 by the Royal Academy of History.
The arms were designed from scratch. The dexter part features the arms of the Dukes of Medina Sidonia, from the Guzmán lineage, as rulers of the place. For the sake of differentiation, the bugle and the knife were added, representing the patrons of Beas, Our Lady of the Bugles (venerated since the 15th century), and Apostle St. Bartholomew (venerated since the 17th century), respectively.
[Juan José Antequera. Principios de transmisibilidad en las heráldicas officiales de Sevilla, Córdoba y Huelva]

Ivan Sache, 18 August 2016