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Patones (Municipality, Community of Madrid, Spain)

Flag of Patones - Image by Ivan Sache, 18 July 2015

Presentation of Patones
Symbols of Patones

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Presentation of Patones

The municipality of Patones (507 inhabitants in 2014; 3,447 ha; municipal website) is located in the north-east of the Community of Madrid, on the border with Castilla-La Mancha (Province of Guadalajara), 60 km of Madrid. The municipality is made of the villages of Patones de Arriba (Upper Patones) and Patones de Abajo (Lower Patones). The upper village, progressively abandoned by its inhabitants in the 1960s, was registered as a Cultural Monument.

Patones is named for his founders, the Patón; accordingly, the villages were known until the 20th century as Los Patones. Patones is first mentioned in a document established in Ucéda in 1527, naming the Patón among the villagers who repaired a bridge over river Jarama. Another document, dated 1555 and kept in the archive of Simancas, mentions the estate of La Hoz de los Patones, (today's Patones de Arriba) and its seven inhabitants. The estate of Los Pradales, listed on the same document, is locally considered as the origin of today's Patones, which is erroneous since the two villages were inhabited at the same time. The inhabitants of Las Pradales moved to Patones at some time in the 18th century.
Patones belonged to Ucéda, which considered it as a remote borough and did not care about it except for collecting tax. In 1769, the villagers sent a memoir to King Charles III, asking him to grant a status to the village; the status of villa was eventually granted on 3 August 1769.

The King of Patones was first mentioned in 1687, in a text recalling the visit he paid in 1653 to Cardinal Moscoso to require the erection of the chapel in the village. According to old sources, the King was an elder who managed the village and exerted justice. The tradition claims that Charles III called him "King of los Patones". It appears that the title of King was transmitted from generation to generation to the elder son of the Prieto family.
A local tradition claims that Patones, concealed by its remote geographical situation, was not occupied by the French troops during the War of independence. The municipal archives, however, report that the villagers had to contribute a cow and 50 pounds of meat to the French garrison stationed in Torrelaguna.

Ivan Sache, 18 July 2015

Symbols of Patones

The flag (photos, photo) and arms of Patones are prescribed by a Decree adopted on 2 April 1992 by the Government of the Community of Madrid and published on 4 June 1992 in the Spanish official gazette, No. 134, p. 19,011 (text).
The symbols are described as follows:

Flag: In proportions 2:3, crimson red, charged in the center with the crowned municipal coat of arms.
Coat of arms: Per pale, 1. Gules a tower or, 2. Or a juniper proper accosted by a goat sable in base waves azure and argent. The shield surmounted by a Royal Spanish crown.

Ivan Sache, 18 July 2015