La Vuelta a España 2017

Spanish Heraldry
User avatar
Arthur Radburn
Posts: 1331
Joined: 11 Jul 2012, 09:56

Re: La Vuelta a España 2017

Postby Arthur Radburn » 27 Aug 2017, 22:29

The stars in saltire also appear in the civic arms of Denia (also in Alicante). It appears they are the arms of the Rojas family, who were marquesses of Denia centuries ago.
Regards
Arthur Radburn

User avatar
Chris Green
Posts: 3621
Joined: 10 Jul 2012, 13:06
Location: Karlstad, Sweden

Re: La Vuelta a España 2017

Postby Chris Green » 29 Aug 2017, 09:12

After a rest day on Monday the cyclists resume their efforts in Caravaca de la Cruz in Murcia and head for Alhama de Murcia.

Caravaca, for reasons best known to Pope John Paul II, was made the fifth holy city of Roman Catholicism (the other four being Rome, Jerusalem, Santiago de Compostela and Camaleño {also in Spain}).

The parish church of Caravaca contains a supposedly miraculous cross, which features in the arms as well as a canting cow (vaca):

Image

Spanish blazon: Escudo cortado. 1º de azur, Cruz de Caravaca, de oro. 2º de plata, una vaca, de gules. Al timbre, corona real abierta.


Alhama de Murcia has arms that demand that the line of partition be visible:

Image

Spanish blazon: Escudo Cortado. 1º de azur, castillo, de oro, acompañado de espada a la diestra y de león a la siniestra, ambos de oro. 2º de azur, casa fuerte, desmochada, de oro. Al timbre, corona marquesal.


"Desmochada" here must mean "slighted" (a fort that has been partially demolished to make it indefensible).
Chris Green
IAAH President

Bertilak de Hautdesert

User avatar
Chris Green
Posts: 3621
Joined: 10 Jul 2012, 13:06
Location: Karlstad, Sweden

Re: La Vuelta a España 2017

Postby Chris Green » 30 Aug 2017, 08:34

Today (Wednesday) sees the race start at Lorca, apparently known as the "city of a hundred coats of arms", though why that should be I have yet to discover. It's own arms are notable for the longest motto I think I have come across:

Image

A very classy emblazonment, though I cannot vouch for its accuracy (what for example is the heraldic sun where one might expect an order of chivalry?). The king brandishing a sword and key is probably Alfonso X of Castile and the tower the "Torre Alfonsina".

As for the motto, I might wrestle with the Latin later "Lorca solum gratum, castrum super astra locatum, ensis minans pravis, regnis tutissima clavis." The (loose) Spanish translation is apparently: "Lorca de suelo agradable, de castillos encumbrados, espada contra malvados, del reino segura llave." A quick guess is: "Lorca the only acceptable fortress situated above the stars; a sword to drive out evil and the key to the defence of the realm".

The finish is only a little below the stars at the observatory at Calo Alto, jointly run by the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy and the Spanish Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía. No heraldry but a couple of logos.

Image

Image
Chris Green
IAAH President

Bertilak de Hautdesert

User avatar
JMcMillan
Posts: 613
Joined: 13 Jul 2012, 22:33
Location: United States

Re: La Vuelta a España 2017

Postby JMcMillan » 30 Aug 2017, 13:56

Chris Green wrote:Today (Wednesday) sees the race start at Lorca, apparently known as the "city of a hundred coats of arms", though why that should be I have yet to discover.


Apparently because of the numerous armorial carvings on the city's 16th and 17th century houses. http://www.el-lorquino.com/escudos-hera ... -de-lorca/
Joseph McMillan
Alexandra, Virginia, USA

User avatar
Chris Green
Posts: 3621
Joined: 10 Jul 2012, 13:06
Location: Karlstad, Sweden

Re: La Vuelta a España 2017

Postby Chris Green » 31 Aug 2017, 09:55

Thursday's stage starts at Antequera whose arms get an honourable (?) mention in the competition to see how many letters of the alphabet one can squeeze into a coat of arms (without making a word).

Image

ATQ PSA stands for "Antequera Por Su Amor", though why this ended up on the city's arms is a mystery.

The race passes through Málaga, whose arms we discussed in 2015:

Málaga's arms are certainly heraldic, though scarcely beauteous. Oddly the (dexter) "view of the city and fortress with two saints hovering overhead" are the traditional arms of the city, granted in 1494, while the (sinister) "barry of twelve gules and or" are of much later date, assumed during the Republic, and have no apparent connection with the not-dissimilar arms of Aragon.


Image

In 2015 Joseph McMillan had to correct my mis-identification of the yokes (badge of Queen Isabella) as bows.

The finish is at Motril which has both a motto (or more properly a title) surrounding the shield, and a Latin text on the bordure of the shield itself. The title "Muy noble e leal ciudad de Motril" (Most noble and loyal city of Motril) was granted by King Philip V. As to the other text: "Civitas Sexis For Mensis SpQ" I can do no better than to refer Spanish speakers to this web page: http://www.elfaromotril.es/2013/12/07/el-escudo-de-motril-y-su-leyenda/

Image
Chris Green
IAAH President

Bertilak de Hautdesert

User avatar
Chris Green
Posts: 3621
Joined: 10 Jul 2012, 13:06
Location: Karlstad, Sweden

Re: La Vuelta a España 2017

Postby Chris Green » 01 Sep 2017, 07:57

Friday sees the riders start from Coín. I can find only one emblazonment of Coín and no blazon or explanation. In Q4 are the f-de-l azure fimbriated or, or is the artist simply trying to make them stand out from the field vert to avoid a breach of the tincture "rule"? The tethered bear is probably none too popular with some citizens (but then many Spaniards still approve of bullfighting).

Image

The race passes through El Saucejo: whose arms contain a willow tree (sauce):

Image

Spanish blazon: Escudo cortado (en realidad, partido): 1.º, de plata, el sauce de sinople; 2.º, de oro, tres jirones de gules, la bordura componada de oro y gules en tres órdenes; 3.º, (en realidad, entado en punta y caído) de azur, la flor de lis en punta. Al timbre, corona real cerrada.


(Someone clearly disagreed with the official blazon!)

The stage ends up in the outskirts of Sevilla (Seville to us Anglo-Saxons). The arms are a bit of a nightmare for the artist:

Image

Spanish blazon: En campo de plata, sobre estrado de gules, sentado en un trono, de oro, y surmontado de un baldaquín, de púrpura, un rey vestido de púrpura y manto de armiño, coronado de oro, con una espada en la diestra y un mundo en la siniestra, acompañado de dos obispos vestidos, de plata y oro, con mitra y báculo, de oro. En punta el monograma "NO8DO" de oro.


The monogram NO8DO is unusual. The letters "NO DO" flank what looks like an 8, but is a 'madeja'. Madeja is the Spanish word for a skein of yarn; what looks like an 8 on its side is a picture of a skein. The motto is a pun: NO-MADEJA-DO sounds like "No me ha dejado", which means "She has not abandoned me". The motto was given by Alfonso X, because, during a rebellion, Sevilla was the only important city that remained loyal.
Chris Green
IAAH President

Bertilak de Hautdesert

User avatar
Chris Green
Posts: 3621
Joined: 10 Jul 2012, 13:06
Location: Karlstad, Sweden

Re: La Vuelta a España 2017

Postby Chris Green » 02 Sep 2017, 15:38

Today the Vuelta is cycling from Écija to the Sierra de la Pandera, the nearest city to which is Jaén.

Écija:

Image

Spanish blazon: De azur, sol figurado de oro y bordura de oro con la divisa latina «ASTIGI. CIVITAS SOLIS VOCABITUR UNA» en sable. Timbrado de corona mural de oro, realzada de cinco torres almenadas y cuatro garitas vistas, mazonadas de sable y aclaradas de azur. Rodeando el escudo, una cinta flotante con los títulos honoríficos «MUY NOBLE», «MUY LEAL» y «CONSTANTE, LEAL Y FIDELÍSIMA».


The phrase in the bordure should probably be: "Civitas solis vocabitur una: Astigi". Astigi was the Roman name for Écija, and the motto means: "There will be one city called "city of the sun": Astigi.

Jaén:

Image

Spanish blazon: Cuartelado en cruz: I y IV, de oro. II y III, de gules. Bordura de catorce piezas, que carga alternantes, en campo de gules, un castillo de oro, almenado de tres almenas, mazonado de sable y aclarado de azur; y en campo de plata, un león rampante de gules, coronado de oro, lampasado y armado de lo mismo, añadiendo, además, una cinta de plata alrededor del blasón con la divisa en letras de sable: “Muy Noble y Muy Leal Ciudad de Jaén, Guarda y Defendimiento de los Reinos de Castilla”. Trae por timbre una corona real cerrada compuesta por un círculo de oro y pedrería, con ocho florones y ocho perlas intercaladas, cerrada con ocho diademas guarnecidas, también de perlas, que convergen en un mundo de azur, con un ecuador y un semimeridiano de oro, y sumado de una cruz de oro, forrada la corona de gules.


South of Jaén and the nearest community to the finish is Valdepeñas de Jaén whose arms seem to derive from those of Jaén. The unusual cross is that of Santiago. The inverted crescents are quite common in Spanish heraldry and seem to relate to the defeated Moors (hence the crescents, usually points upwards, being reversed).

Image

Spanish blazon: En campo de oro, la Cruz de Santiago de gules acompañada a diestra y siniestra por un creciente con tornado hacia la punta, de gules. Bordura camponada de catorce piezas alternantes, en campo de plata, siete leones rampantes de gules, y en campo de gules, siete torres de oro esclarecidas de azur, almenadas y mazonadas en sable. Al timbre, Corona Real cerrada.
Chris Green
IAAH President

Bertilak de Hautdesert

User avatar
Chris Green
Posts: 3621
Joined: 10 Jul 2012, 13:06
Location: Karlstad, Sweden

Re: La Vuelta a España 2017

Postby Chris Green » 03 Sep 2017, 08:08

Sunday's start is at Alcalá la Real, captured from the Moors by King Alfonso XI in 1341. It was he who gave the town its royal title. 12 of the 15 original Moorish towers still stand. The key is supposedly to indicate the importance of the town in the chain of border fortifications between the reconquered lands and the remaining Moorish territory. Once again the bordure of Castile and León.

Image

Spanish blazon: En campo de gules, una llave de oro puesta en palo, con el ojo mirando al jefe. Bordura general con ocho piezas que cargan alternantes las reales armas de Castilla y León, que son: En campo de gules, un castillo de oro, almenado de tres almenas, mazonado de sable y aclarado de azur; y en campo de plata, un león rampante de gules, coronado de oro, lampasado y armado de lo mismo. Contorno hispano-francés, que debería adoptar el español, según la vigente normativa, y timbre de corona real cerrada.


The riders pass through Pinos Puente whose arms are entirely canting (pinos = pine, puente = bridge) :

Image

Spanish blazon: Partido: 1.º de oro, cinco pinos arrancados de sinople; 2.º de sinople, un puente sumado de una ermita, de plata, sobre ondas de plata y azur. Al timbre corona real cerrada.


The finish is at the Sierra Nevada in Monachil whose arms feature the mountain itself as well as five pomegranates.

Image

Spanish blazon: Cortado. 1.º de azur, monte de plata; 2.º de plata, cinco granadas en su color, rajadas de gules, talladas y hojadas de sinople, puestas tres y dos. Al timbre, corona real cerrada.
Chris Green
IAAH President

Bertilak de Hautdesert

User avatar
Chris Green
Posts: 3621
Joined: 10 Jul 2012, 13:06
Location: Karlstad, Sweden

Re: La Vuelta a España 2017

Postby Chris Green » 05 Sep 2017, 09:11

Monday was a rest day. Tuesday sees the start of a time trial at the Circuito de Navarra, a recently built motor and motorbike racing circuit, and finishing at Logroño.

The racing circuit is near Estella (Lizarra in Basque), whose arms confirm that we are now in Navarre:

Image

After cycling round the race track the riders passe through Viana whose arms remind us that we are in Navarre:

Image

The chains of Navarre are not unique, but certainly an unusual and an effective charge:

Image

Spanish blazon: Cadenas de oro sobre fondo rojo, con una esmeralda en el centro de unión de sus ocho brazos de eslabones y, sobre ellas, la Corona Real, símbolo del Antiguo Reino de Navarra.


These arms are considered to be those of the Kingdom of Navarre, though by the time heraldry was established in Iberia, the Kingdom was but a rump of its former self.

Logroño is not in Navarre but in La Rioja. No doubting whether these arms are those of Logroño!

Image
Chris Green
IAAH President

Bertilak de Hautdesert

User avatar
Chris Green
Posts: 3621
Joined: 10 Jul 2012, 13:06
Location: Karlstad, Sweden

Re: La Vuelta a España 2017

Postby Chris Green » 06 Sep 2017, 11:21

Today, Wednesday the Vuelta starts from Villadiego, a very small town (less than 2,000 permanent inhabitants plus several former residents who maintain holiday homes). The entire town has been declared an historical monument. As well as Castile and Leon, its arms include a lozenge of pretence with a head and shoulders image of the town's founder, Don Diego Rodriguez Porcelos, Lord of Amaya in the ninth century.

Image

Spanish blazon: Escudo cuartelado. 1.º y 4.º, de Castilla (que es de gules, un castillo de oro aclarado de azur). 2.º y 3.º, de León (que es de plata, un león de gules [coronado de oro]). En abismo, losange de plata con el busto del conde Diego Rodríguez de Porcelos, al natural. Al timbre, corona real de España.


I can find no heraldry in the vicinity of the finish at Los Machucos, but as the area is renowned for its Pasiega cattle, I can do no better than to provide a picture of some of those:

Image
Chris Green
IAAH President

Bertilak de Hautdesert


Return to “Spanish Heraldry”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests