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Mazo (Municipality, Canary Islands, Spain)

Flag of Mazo, as seen on 27 January 2014 in the Town Hall - Image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 10 February 2014

Presentation of Mazo
Symbols of Mazo

See also:

Presentation of Mazo

The municipality of Mazo (7,117 ha; 4,621 inhabitants in 2001; municipal website) is the third biggest municipality of the island of La Palma by its area ; it was even once bigger before the separation of Fuencaliente on 19 February 1837. Fuencaliente asked for the reunification in 1852, to no avail. The population of the municipality is scattered over 14 settlements; until 1940, it included 49 inhabited nuclei. Mazo was often damaged by the eruptions of the San Antonio volcano, for the last time in 1949. During the night of 15 to 16 January 1957, a flood claimed 25 lives in different villages of the municipality.
The title of "Villa" was granted to Mazo on 18 March 1878 by King Alfonso XII.

Ivan Sache, 22 March 2007

Symbols of Mazo

The flag of Mazo is prescribed by a Decree adopted on 7 September 2006 by the Government of the Canary Islands and published on 14 November 2006 in the official gazette of the Canary Islands, No. 221, pp. 25,488-25,489 (text). The flag was originally adopted on 26 January 2006 by the Municipal Council, as published on 15 February 2006 in the official gazette of the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Province, No. 24, and validated on 18 October 2006 by the Heraldry Commission of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands.
The flag is described as follows:

Flag: Rectangular [...], in proportions 2:3 (one and a half longer than wide), made of two equal vertical stripes, Bordeaux red at hoist and golden yellow at fly.
When the flag is charged with the municipal coat of arms, this should be placed in the middle of the flag.

The flag was officially unveiled on 18 March 2007 'El Día), 14 March 2007).
According to José Manuel Erbez (Banderas y escudos de Canarias, 2007; website), the colours of the flag are those of the first two quarters of the coat of arms. Moreover, they represent the main source of income of the municipality, wine-growing, Bordeaux red for red wines and golden yellow for white wines, especially Malvasia wines.
Golden yellow also represents the light, the sun and the Corpus Christi, venerated in the San Miguel de las Victorias reliquary kept in the parish church.

The coat of arms of Mazo is prescribed by a Decree adopted on 15 March 1994 by the Government of the Canary Islands and published on 27 April 1994 in the official gazette of the Canary Islands, No. 52, p. 2,462 (text). The coat of arms was validated by the Heraldry Commission of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands.
The coat of arms is described as follows:

Coat of arms: 1a. Gules (red) a comb or and a crozier of the same crossed per saltire surmounted by a mitre or charged with a Latin cross vert (green) without infulae and tierced at sinister, 1b. Or a bunch of grapes proper, 2. Argent a mount vert (green) with a cave sable (black) over waves azure and argent. The shield surmounted by a Royal crown closed.

According to José Manuel Erbez (Banderas y escudos de Canarias, 2007; website), the 1st quarter features the attributes of St. Blasius, to whom the original parish was dedicated. The 2nd quarter represents the production of Malvasia wine known as Hoyo de Mazo. The third quarter pictures the Belmaco cave, the most important archeological site of the island.

Klaus-Michael Schneider & Ivan Sache, 22 March 2007