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Itápolis, São Paulo State (Brazil)

image by Dirk Schönberger and Ivan Sache, 17, 23 November 2012
Source: http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%E1polis

Description of the Flag

See also:

Description of the Flag

Quartered per saltire, blue and red, with a white-bordered black saltire, and the municipal arms in the centre on a white disk.

Official website at http://www.itapolis.sp.gov.br
Dirk Schönberger, 18 November 2012

The municipality of Itápolis (40,064 inhabitants in 2010; 99,713 ha) is located 360 km of São Paulo. The municipality includes the districts of Tapinas and Nova América. Itápolis is the first producer of citrus fruit in the world (6,300,000 trees growing on more than 30,000 ha), therefore its nickname of "World Capital of Oranges". Itápolis is crossed by the Tordesillas Meridian, established on 7 June 1494 as the demarcation line between the Spanish and Portuguese possession in America..

Itápolis was originally settled in 1723 by the gold scavenger Sebastião Sutil de Oliveira and Father Frutuoso da Conceição. The town was established on 20 October 1862 on land belonging to the Boa Vista Estate. Pedro Alves de Oliveira, the founder of the town, died on 18 November 1865. The district of Espírito Santo do Córrego das Pedras was established on 7 March 1888 by Decree no. 9,886, as part of Piracicaba. The municipality of Boa Vista das Pedras was established on 24 April 1891 by Decree no. 161. The name of the municipality was shortened to Pedras on 6 November 1906 by Law no. 1,021. The municipality was eventually renamed Itápolis on 22 December 1910 by Law No. 1,234, for the Tupi-Guarani world "ita", "a stone", and the Greek word "polis", "a town".

The flag of Itápolis, designed by Arcinoé Antonio Peixoto de Faria, is quartered red-blue by a black saltire fimbriated white. In the middle of the flag is placed a white disk charged with the municipal coat of arms. The width of the saltire is 2 units, the width of its black center being 1 unit. The circumference [indeed, the diameter] of the disc is 8 units. The coat of arms represents the municipal government, while the disk represents the town as the seat of the municipality. White is a symbol of peace, friendship, work, prosperity, purity, and religious feeling. The arms of the saltire represent the municipal power spreading all over the municipal territory. Black is a symbol of austerity, prudence, knowledge, moderation, and firmness. The quarters represent the rural estates located in the municipality. Blue is a symbol of justice, nobleness, perseverance, zeal, loyalty, recreation and beauty. Red is a symbol of dedication, patriotic love, audacity, intrepidity, courage and valiance.

The coat of arms of Itápolis is described as "A Portuguese shield, rounded off, per fess, 1. Argent in chief the escutcheon of arms of Oliveira, 2. Gules a heap of stones. The shield surmounted by a mural crown or with its main gate charged with a dove azure, the symbol of the Holy Spirit. The shield supported by two branches of coffee fructed proper. Below the shield a scroll argent inscribed with the motto 'UNUS PRO PATRIA' - 'United for the Fatherland' and the dates '2 de Maio 1856' and '24 April 1891', recalling the purchase of the Boa Vista Estate by Pedro Alves de Oliveira, earlier than the foundation of the town, and the establishment of the municipality, respectively, in letters argent.

However, the image of the coat of arms does not match the description, being "Argent a heap of stones ['pedras'] ensigned with an escutcheon gules charged with an olive tree vert, a chief azure a dove argent. The shield surmounted by a mural crown argent ports gules. The shield supported by two branches of coffee proper. Below the shield a scroll argent charged with the writing '1862 ITÁPOLIS 1891'.'

http://www.itapolis.sp.gov.br/portal3/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&layout=blog&id=59&Itemid=100065 - Municipal website

A black and white image of the coat of arms shown on a municipal document dated 1976 shows the coat of arms as on the aforementioned image. The description might be either completely wrong or linked to an earlier version of the arms.

http://www.itapolis.sp.gov.br/portal3/images/ARQUIVOS_2011/ADMINISTRACAO/historiadeitapolis.pdf

Photos of the flag
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/64410937
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/38760171
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/42305307
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/43585024
http://www.itapolis.sp.gov.br/portal3/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1318 http://www.itapolis.sp.gov.br/portal3/images/ARQUIVOS_2011/INVESTIMENTOS2011/DSCN2071.jpg

Ivan Sache, 23 November 2012