Last modified: 2016-03-26 by klaus-michael schneider
Keywords: vassal | well | onion | olive(branch) | grapevine |
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![[Vassal commune]](../images/p/pt-vlpvs.gif)
2:3 image by Sérgio Horta, 19 Mar 2016
Portuguese communal flag, with the coat of arms centred on a plain purple field.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 19 Mar 2016
![[ commune CoA]](../images/p/pt-vlpvs).gif)
image by Sérgio Horta, 19 Mar 2016
Shield Argent a wall with a fountain on it all Sable masoned and open Argent between two olive branches Vert fruited Sable and in chief a bunch of grapes Purpure leaved Vert and in base a bundle of three onions Or emphasized and open Purpure and leaved Vert. Mural crown Argent with three visible towers (village rank) and white scroll reading in black upper case letters "VASSAL".
Meaning:
While the name of this commune is unique in Portugal, it resembles (and in some dialects sounds the same as Baçal , in Bragança Municipality, of its abbot's fame. The etymology of the name might be either the same as "vassal", or a corruption of the mentioned "baçal", which comes from Hebrew, meaning "onion grove". The arms follow this second etymology.
As in the communal arms of Valverde (Mogadouro) , here we find a fonte de chafurdo. To reiterate, in current Portuguese "chafurdo" is an archaism and its only cognate in use is "chafurdar"", which means to eat like a pig, metaphorically "to slobber". Lexicography tells us that this is however a "fonte em que se tira a água com a própria vasilha" , which probably copied from older dictionaries etc.), which is ambiguous to mean that this is a fountain/spring/well where one draws water either with/into one's own vessel or with/from the fountains's own vessel. Neither meaning helps to determine a type of fountain, visually speaking, and it is no wonder that Vassal (Valpaços) and Valverde (Mogadouro) have different depictions for the same charge in their arms.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 19 Mar 2016
The assessment (parecer) from the Comissão de Heráldica da Associação dos Arqueólogos Portugueses (CHAAP) is dated from 14 May 2004. The assessment is signed by José Bénard Guedes and the shape of the scroll is not the most usual but the one favoured by him. Flag and arms published in the official journal Diário da República: III Série on 23 April 2012
António Martins-Tuválkin, 19 Mar 2016
Vassal Commune is one of the 25 communes of Valpaços Municipality; it had 460 inhabitants in 2011 and covers 14.6 km².
António Martins-Tuválkin, 19 Mar 2016
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