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

Bonares (Municipality, Andalusia, Spain)

Flag of Bonares - Image from the Símbolos de Huelva website, 19 August 2016

Presentation of Bonares
Symbols of Bonares

See also:

Presentation of Bonares

The municipality of Bonares (6,090 inhabitants in 2015; 6,600 ha; municipal website) is located 30 km north-east of Huelva.

Bonares was already settled in the Roman times, as evidenced by the remains of a villa (1st century) found in Los Bojeos, of a necropolis, and the mosaics excavated in El Alcornacal. Probably a small farms depending on Niebla during the Muslim rule, Bonares was granted in 1369 to Juan Alonso de Guzmán, subsequently made Count of Niebla.
A main source of income in Bonares was the production of lime and charcoal, used on building sites, in private kitchens and in smelting furnaces. Lime and charcoal were exported to the Provinces of Huelva, Cádiz and Seville (Royal Mint) either through terrestrial or maritime transport, the latter from the wharf of Ruiza del Tinto.

Ivan Sache, 19 August 2016

Symbols of Bonares

The flag of Bonares (photo, photo, photo, photo, photo), adopted on 14 October 1986 by the Municipal Council, is prescribed by Decree No. 61, adopted on 11 March 1987 by the Government of Andalusia and published on 20 March 1987 in the official gazette of Andalusia, No. 27, p. 1,114 (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: Rectangular, divided in three horizontal stripes; the median stripe slightly wider than the upper and lower ones. The colors are: upper stripe, blue; median stripe, white; and lower stripe, green. The central stripe is charged with the coat of arms of the town.

The Royal Academy of History validated the proposed flag "without any inconvenience".
[Boletín de la Real Academia de la Historia, 1987, 184:2, 161]

The coat of arms of Bonares is prescribed by Royal Decree No. 2,913, adopted on 17 October 1980 and published on 16 January 1981 in the Spanish official gazette, No. 14, p. 1,047 (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 coat of arms is described as follows:

Coat of arms: Vert a lynx's head or spotted sable and armed argent cantonned with four grapevine leaves or. The shield surmounted by a Royal crown closed.

The arms were proposed on 8 March 1979 by Vicente de Cadenas y Vicent, King Chronicler of Arms. Lacking any significant element, either historical or economical, able to distinguish Bonares from the neighbouring municipalities, the designer selected the Iberian lynx, an endangered species, which probably existed in the past in the area. The heraldic representation of the lynx is easy and the identification of the animal is straightforward; moreover, no other Spanish municipality appears to feature a lynx on its arms. The lynx is also a reference to the neighbouring National Park of Doñana. The grapevine leaves were added to highlight the crop as among the most traditional and significant sources of income for the town.
[Juan José Antequera. Principios de transmisibilidad en las heráldicas officiales de Sevilla, Córdoba y Huelva]

The Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus Temminck, 1827), aka Spanish lynx or Pardel lynx, is listed as en endangered species by IUCN (listing). Native to Spain, the Iberian lynx is restricted to two separate regions of south-western Spain, namely eastern Sierra Morena and the coastal plains west of the lower Guadalquivir. Two new nuclei are being founded though reintroduction 30 km south-west (Guadalmellato) and north-east (Guarrizas), respectively, of the existing Sierra Morena subpopulation, and contained a few breeding females in 2012. Five additional sites in four Spanish regions (Andalusia, Castilla-La Mancha, Extremadura, Murcia) and Portugal are being prepared for reintroduction; the first release in Portugal happened in late 2014 (Iberlince LIFE project 2014).

Ivan Sache, 19 August 2016