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Municipality of Gijón (Asturias, Spain)

Concejo de Gijón

2:3
image by Ivan Sache, 05 Feb 2010

Description
District of Somió

See also:

Gijón Maritime Province (Spain)
Municipal Flags (Asturias, Spain)
Asturias (Spain)
Spain

Description

Gijón is a sister city of Niort.

Eduardo Panizo, 28 Sep 1999

According to José Carlos Alegría, "The flag derives directly from the 1845 registration ensign of Gijón."

Santiago Dotor, 23 Dec 1999

The flag is described in Chapter 14 ("Bandera Oficial de Gijón") of the "Manual de Identidad Gráfica" released by the municipal administration in May 2008.

The flag of Gijón has its origin in the registration flag ascribed to the town by Royal Decree of 30 July 1845. This flag, a white rectangle with a red border, had to be hoisted on the main mast of the merchant ships registered in Gijón. Subsequently, the municipality of Gijón adopted this flag, with the municipal coat of arms added in the middle, as the flag of the town.

The construction sheet shows a flag with proportions 2:3 (recommended size, 1 x 1.5 m). The height of the border is 1/10 the length of the flag. The coat of arms is separated from the borders by the same height (or, the height of the coat of arms is 4/10 the fly of the flag).

The coat of arms is "Argent, Pelagius standing on a green terrace holding dexter a sword argent sinister the Cross of Victory or." The colour version of the coat of arms should be used only on the flag, with the following specifications:

	Silver:		Pantone 877
	Red:		Pantone 485		CMYK 0-100-100-0
	Black:		Pantone Process Black	CMYK 0-0-0-100
	Gold		Pantone 116		CMYK 0-16-100-0
	Green		Pantone 355		CMYK 94-0-100-0

The coat of arms seems to be older than 1649, the year the municipality ordered a new seal to replace the damaged one. The arms seem to have been used for the first time in the beginning of the 17th century. "Infant Pelayo" (Pelagius) was represented as a knight from the 15th century, with complete armour and sallet. The new design of the arms made in 1873 showed him with a coat of mail and helmet from the 8th century. In 1950, Iván Fernández Candosa designed the modern version of the Infant, wearing a coat, after a painting by Federico Madrazo.

Source: Manual de Identidad Gráfica (PDF)

Pelagius (d. 737), a Visigoth lord, founded the Christian Kingdom of Asturias, which he ruled until his death. Pelagius is considered in Spanish traditional historiography as the promoter of the Reconquista against the Moors, but there is little historical evidence that he really played that role.

Madrazo's painting quoted as the source of the modern rendition of the arms of Gijón was also the source for the statue of the local hero, erected in 1891 on the port of Gijón. The Cross of Victory, a jewel kept in the Cathedral of Oviedo, is a main Asturian symbol, shown on the flag of Asturias.

The real flag, visible in a Flickr photo taken by "Fotokas" on 3 August 2007 seems to have different proportions (3:5 ?) and a bigger coat of arms than prescribed.

Ivan Sache, 05 Feb 2010

District of Somió

image by Jose C. Alegria Diaz, 11 Jan 2004

The district flag of Somió, part of the municipality of Gijón, is a rectangular flag, proportions 2:3, divided diagonally from the bottom hoist to the upper fly. Green (Pantone 361) on top, and white on the bottom. On the canton, a yellow (Pantone 109) squirrel. On the bottom fly, a red (Pantone 485) ten-pointed star.

The green represents the rural character of the district, in Gijón's countryside. The squirrel is a symbol of the neighbourhood, as these animals live along with the residents. The red star on white represents the fact that Somió belongs to Gijón, being red and white, Gijón's colors. The star has ten points for the 10 parts in which Somió is divided: Caserías, San Lorenzo, La Pipa, El Pisón, La Corolla, La Redonda, Fontanía-La Guía, Fojanes, Candenal y Fuejo.

I, myself , designed the flag in 2002, to have it officially approved in January 2003. I thought it was extremely distinctive, but it turns out to be coincidentally a very similar design to the flag of Senec, Czech Republic.

Jose C. Alegria Diaz, 11 Jan 2004