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Aracaju, Sergipe (Brazil)

image by Ivan Sache, 28 January 2013
Source: http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aracaju

About the Flag

About the Flag of Aracaju

Four horizontal stripes green and yellow, a white square canton bearing the municipal coat of arms.

The municipality of Aracaju (587,701 inhabitants in 2012; 18186 ha) is the capital of Sergipe State.

Aracaju emerged as a fishers' colony depending on the town of São Cristóvão. The name of the town comes from Tupi-Guarani words meaning "the cashew tree of the parrots". A small village named Santo Antônio do Aracaju, ruled by the native João Mulato, was mentioned in 1669. The district of Aracaju was established by Provincial Law No. 473 of 28 March 1837. Inácio Joaquim Barbosa (1821-1855), appointed President of the Sergipe Province in 1853, decided to establish the provincial capital in Aracaju. Located on the sea shore and watered by rivers Sergipe and Vaza-Barris, the small fisher's village - and potential port of commerce - was preferred to already organized towns, such as São Cristóvão, Laranjeiras, Maruim and Itaporanga d’ájuda. Barbosa commissioned the engineer Sebastião José Basílio Pirro to design the plan of the new town, made of symmetric boroughs separated by rectilinear streets. The whole town formed a square of 1,188 m in square. The only exception to the rectilinear plan, allowed by the President himself, is the curved street that follows the bank of river Sergipe. The municipality of Aracaju, with the status of provincial capital, was established by Provincial Law No. 473 of 17 March 1855.

The symbols of Aracaju are prescribed in Article 6 of the Municipal Constitution, adopted on 5 April 1990, as "the coat of arms, the flag and the anthem, representative of its culture and history".
http://www.swapi.kinghost.net/cake/ged/legislacao/Lei_organica_2008.pdf - Municipal Constitution

The flag is similar to the flag of Sergipe, except the canton that is white with the municipal coat of arms.

The coat of arms was designed by the artist Florival Santos, winner of a contest organized for the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the town. The coat of arms is "Quarterly, 1. Or a Latin cross gules, 2. Azure a weather vane argent, 3. Azure a coconut palm argent, 4. Or a cogwheel gules. The shield surmounted by a mural crown or. The shield supported by two sea horses or. Beneath the shield a scroll azure inscribed with the motto 'PAX ET LABOR' in letters argent."

The cross represents religious faith. The weather vane is a tribute to the production of salt. The coconut palm recalls the great number of such trees found in the town. The cogwheel is a symbol of the evolution of time and work. The five-towered mural crown or indicates that Aracaju is a State capital. The sea horses represent the sea shore. The Latin motto reads "Peace and Labour".
http://www.aracaju.se.gov.br/index.php?act=leitura&codigo=37049 - Municipal website (including a photo of the flag)

Ivan Sache, 28 January 2013