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Tías (Municipality, Canary Islands, Spain)

Flag of Tías, two versions seen around the Town Hall - Images by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 1 March 2011

Presentation of Tías
Symbols of Tías

See also:

Presentation of Tías

Tías, formerly known as Tías de Fajardo, arose as a settlement in the 18th century when hundreds of inhabitants from the surrounding villages fled from the volcanic eruptions, which took place between 1730 and 1736. Until the rise of tourism, especially in Puerto del Carmen, the area was the poorest of the island. ís gained clerical independence from thr nearby municipality of San Bartolomé in 1796, when the parish church of Our Lady of Candelaria was established.

Klaus-Michael Schneider, 1 March 2011

Symbols of Tías

The flag of Tías is in proportions 2:3, horizontally divided blue-green. In its centre is the municipal coat of arms, above the inscription in black capitals "AYUNTAMIENTO DE TÍAS", underlined in blue. Two versions of the flag, either with or without the coat of arms, are used.
Blue represents the sea while green represents the fields.

The coat of arms of Tías is prescribed by a Decree adopted on 7 January 1987 by the Government of the Canary Islands and published on 21 January 1987 in the official gazette of the Canary Islands, No. 9, p. 188 (text).
The coat of arms is described as follows:

Coat of arms: Per fess, 1. Azure the conquistador's nave [over waves argent and azure] that brought the cult of Our Lady of Candelaria, [surrounded in chief by] two cauldrons decorated with snake's heads vert and [sinister] a candle. 2. Gules a pottery tray with the representation in the middle of a hold of Canarian wrestling. The shield surmounted with a Marquis' coronet.

According to José Manuel Erbez (Banderas y escudos de Canarias, 2007; website), the ship is of the type used by the Spanish conquerors, who brought with them the cult of Our Lady of Candelaria, the patron saint of the whole archipelago, also alluded by the candle. The cauldrons with snake's heads are taken from the coat of arms of the Herrera family, Marquis of Lanzarote. The tray symbolizes the native's pottery and tournaments, still organized today. The inscription placed on a scroll or [not mentioned in the Decree], La redención por el fuego (Redemption Through Fire) symbolizes the volcanic origin of the soil.

Klaus-Michael Schneider & Ivan Sache, 1 March 2011