Last modified: 2016-05-08 by ivan sache
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The municipality of Blanca (6,477 inhabitants in 2014; 8,732 ha; municipal website) is located in the north of the Region of Murcia, 40 km of Murcia.
Blanca was established by the Moors, as Negra, in the 12th century.
After the Christian reconquest, King Sancho IV granted in 1285 the
valley of Ricote and its villages, Blanca included, to the
Blanca purchased on 10 August 1591 from Philip II the status of
villa, for a cost of 2,400 ducates. In the beginning of the 16th
century, the town counted nearly 1,000 inhabitants; the expelling of
the Moriscos by Philip II (1613) caused the ruin of agriculture in
Blanca. The town counted only 173 households in 1713, but 1,378
inhabitants in 1787 (Floridablanca census).
Ivan Sache, 1 May 2015
The flag and modified coat of arms of Blanca are prescribed by Decree
No. 47, adopted on 7 May 1992 by the Government of the Region of
Murcia and published on 16 May 1992 in the official gazette of the
Region of Murcia, No. 113, p. 3,338 (text)
The symbols are described as follows:
Flag: White panel in proportions 2:3, charged in the middle with a medieval castle proper, with white ports and windows, on a black mount. The port of the castle charged with a (red) Cross of St. James
Coat of arms: Shield in Spanish shape. Argent a medieval castle proper on a mount sable. The gate charged with a Cross of St. James (gules). The shield surmounted by a Royal crown closed.
The symbols were designed by Luis Lisón Hernández, who delivered the supporting memoir to the municipality on 21 July 1991.
The author demonstrates that the first coat of arms of Blanca, adopted
in 1973, is apocryphal. There are indeed mentions of an historical
coat of arms of the town in the archives; however, the arms are not
described. It appears that the arms adopted in 1973 were copied from
an heraldry book, being indeed the coat of arms of Martín Martínez de Combalde, aka Martín de las Blancas, a Navarrese knight documented in 1390. Accordingly, new arms were designed from scratch, taking into account the history of the town.
White is the colour of the medieval flags of Blanca. The colour specifications are given as follows:
Colour Pantone Vert 354 Or 871 Argent 877 Azure 301 Gules Warm red Sable Black on Maroon 154
The proposal was submitted to the Royal Academy "Alfonso X the Wise"
in Murcia, which found flaws to the design. Luis Lisón Hernández
replied in a document dated 12 March 1992.
The Academy found the drawing of the castle "of pure fantasy and
absolutely inadequate for a medieval castle of Islamic origin. [...]
The windows featured in the lower part and in the lateral towers are
inadequate, too." The designer replied that his drawing of the castle
was compliant with all the norms of heraldry set up in the last
national congresses, by the International Institute of Genealogy and
Heraldry, by the School of Genealogy, Heraldry and Nobility, and by
the 1st Meeting of Experts in Municipal Heraldry in the Autonomous
Communities (1991). It also reflects the prescriptions of the best
heraldry textbooks, published by Vicente de Cadenas y Vicent (Dean of
the Royal chronicler of Arms) [quite ironically, the author of the
apocryphal design], Eduardo Pardo de Guevara y Valdés, Armando de
Flaviá y Escors, Faustino Menéndez-Pidal de Navascués and Luis F. Messía de la Cerda y Pita, among others. The similarity of the design with those proposed in the Manual de Heráldica Espanola is not a mere coincidence, either.
The Academy recommended to substitute the mount by the charge called
by the French heraldists meulons appelés coupeaux. Such a figure will be more understandable to the general public. The author answered he had followed the prescription made by Vicente de Cadenas y Vicent, who represents a mount with one or more triangles. Here the mount,
surmounted by a tower or a a castle, is represented as encastilado.
The model recommended by the Academy is not a proper Spanish design;
it was indeed popularized in Italy, as montes a la italiana. The
Catalan heraldry used the ovoid mont de penyes, which does not
either match the Spanish monte.
Accordingly, the author recommends to adopt the proposed design and to
ignore the recommendations of the Academy.
[G. Westerveld, Historia de Blanca (Valle de Ricote), lugar más
islamizado de la región murciana. Años 711Ð1700. Tomo II (1997-2014)]
Ivan Sache, 1 May 2015
The first coat of arms of Blanca was prescribed by Decree No. 717,
adopted on 7 March 1974 by the Spanish Government and published on 19
March 1974 in the Spanish official gazette, No. 67, p. 5,656 (text).
The coat of arms is described as follows:
Coat of arms: Vert a tower or masoned and port and windows sable. A bordure or with the motto "CON ARMAS BLANCAS" in letters sable. The shield surmounted by a Royal crown.
The arms were designed by Vicente de Cadenas y Vicent, Chronicler of
Arms of the Kingdom of Spain. The supporting memoir was achieved in
Madrid on 21 January 1973 and delivered on 29 January 1973 to the
Municipal Council, which approved it on 30 January 1973.
The traditional arms of Blanca appear to have been used continuously
since the last quarter of the 19th century. Accordingly, the
"rehabilitation" of these arms is the most suitable solution. The
design is compliant with the rules of heraldry: the main charge is a
castle, featured in several municipal arms, but the bordure with the
motto offers differentiation from all other arms.
The Royal Academy of History validated the proposed coat of arms.
[Boletín de la Real Academia de la Historia, 1974, 171, 2: 427]
Ivan Sache, 1 May 2015