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Pizarra (Municipality, Andalusia, Spain)

Flag of Pizarra - Image by Ivan Sache, 21 September 2016

Presentation of Pizarra
Symbols of Pizarra

See also:

Presentation of Pizarra

The municipality of Pizarra (8,254 inhabitants in 2006; 6,408 ha; municipal website) is located on river Guadalhorce, 30 km north-west of Málaga. The municipality is made of the settlements of Pizarra (5,777 inh.), Cerralba, Zalea and La Vega, and of the hamlets of Los Lagares, Rivera, Villalón and Los Malagueños.

Pizarra appeared as a place in the late 15th century but as a town only in the last third of the 16th century. Since then, the villagers of Pizarra have been in constant struggle with their neighbours, especially from Álora, from which they required their independence several times. The municipal independence was recognized by a Decree of the Parliament issued on 23 June 1813; on 19 January 1818, King Ferdinand VII signed Letters Patented granting to Pizarra the status of villazgo and the title of Town of Pizarra. Challenged by the unhappy neighbours, the municipal status was eventually confirmed by the Supreme Court only in 1847.
The Pizarra Conference was held on 5 February 1922, in the palace of the Counts of Puerto Hermoso. Dignitaries of the government discussed there strategic aspects of the War of Morocco

Ivan Sache, 26 July 2009

Symbols of Pizarra

The flag of Pizarra (photo, photo, photo, photo), adopted on 2 March 2005 by the Municipal Council and submitted on 9 March 2005 to the Directorate General of the Local Administration, is prescribed by a Resolution adopted on 28 March 2005 by the Directorate General of the Local Administration and published on 7 April 2005 in the official gazette of Andalusia, No. 67, p. 44 (text).
The flag is described as follows:

Flag: Rectangular flag, in proportions 1:1.5, horizontally divided into five stripes, the first and the fifth of light blue colour and covering each 3/8 of the flag's height, the second, the third and the fourth of colour purple, white and green respectively, and covering each 1/12 of the flag's height, charged with a white vertical stripe of length 1/3 of the flag's height, on which is placed the coat of arms covering, including the Royal crown, the half of the flag's height.

The municipal administration concluded from an heraldic study that Pizarra never had a flag, and decided to launch a flag contest. Within one year, 2,382 citizens of Pizarra have voted for one of the 26 designs proposed by the administration. According to Mayor Zacarías Gómez, the winning proposal was adopted by a wide margin.
[Málaga Hoy, 28 February 2006]

Light blue recalls the clarity of the sky above Pizarra and represents the colour of dawn. It means the onset of a new day, symbolizing Pizarro as a young municipality with dynamic inhabitants.
Purple represents the town and its inhabitants.
Green represents the field and the valley of Guadalhorce.
White is the colour of peace, the goal of each human being, people and nation.
Purple, green and white recall the colours of the Province of Málaga and of Andalusia.
The cross formed by the vertical white stripe and the horizontal purple-white-green stripes is a symbol of faith and hope in the future. [<.FONT SIZE=-1>Leaflet released for the celebration of the 191st anniversary of the foundation of Pizarra]

The coat of arms of Pizarra is prescribed by Decree No. 2,789, adopted on 29 October 1969 by the Spanish Government and published on 14 November 1969 in the Spanish official gazette, No. 273, p. 17,743 (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, validated by the Royal Academy of History, is described as follows:

Coat of arms: Per pale, 1. Gules a castle or on a base of the same, 2. Argent a lion gules. Grafted in base, argent five fig leaves. The shield surmounted by a Royal crown.

The castle and the lion, the arms of Castile and León, recalls that Pizarra once belonged to the municipality of Álora, which also feature them on its arms. The fig (higuera) leaves recall the protection exerted on the town by some members of the Figueroa lineage, who exerted jurisdiction on Pizarra.
[Símbolos de las Entidades Locales de Andalucía. Málaga]

Ivan Sache, 21 September 2016