The coat of arms of Barcelona is the official emblem of the City Council of

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, the capital of

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

, has its origin in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, these arms were first documented in 1329. The

Government of Catalonia The Executive Council of Catalonia ( ca, Consell Executiu) or the Executive Government of Catalonia (Catalan: ) is the executive branch of the Generalitat of Catalonia. It is responsible for the political action, regulation, and administratio ...

conferred the coat of arms and the

flag A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design empl ...

as official symbols of the municipality in 2004. It has an escutcheon in

lozenge Lozenge or losange may refer to: * Lozenge (shape), a type of rhombus *Throat lozenge, a tablet intended to be dissolved slowly in the mouth to suppress throat ailments *Lozenge (heraldry), a diamond-shaped object that can be placed on the field of ...

which is commonly used in municipal coats of arms of cities in Catalonia. Currently the City Council of Barcelona also uses an isotype based on the heraldry of the city. The

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The vis ...

of the arms is:

History

The heraldry of the city joining the

Saint George's Cross In heraldry, Saint George's Cross, the Cross of Saint George, is a red cross on a white background, which from the Late Middle Ages became associated with Saint George, the military saint, often depicted as a crusader. Associated with the cru ...

(a field ''Argent'' with a cross ''Gules''),

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

of the

House of Barcelona The House of Barcelona was a medieval dynasty that ruled the County of Barcelona continuously from 878 and the Crown of Aragon from 1137 (as kings from 1162) until 1410. They descend from the Bellonids, the descendants of Wifred the Hairy. The ...

and the arms of the

Archdiocese of Barcelona The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Barcelona is a Latin rite Catholic metropolitan archbishopric in northeastern Spain's Catalonia region. The cathedral archiepiscopal see is a Minor basilica: Catedral Basílica Metropolitana de la Santa Creu i ...

, and the

Royal Arms of Aragon The so-called Bars of Aragon, Royal sign of Aragon, Royal arms of Aragon, Four Bars, Red Bars or Coat of arms of the Crown of Aragon, which bear four red pallets on gold background, depicts the familiar coat of the Kings of Aragon." Léon Jé ...

, the Four Bars which bear four red paletts on gold background, depicts the emblems of the

Kings of Aragon This is a list of the kings and queens of Aragon. The Kingdom of Aragon was created sometime between 950 and 1035 when the County of Aragon, which had been acquired by the Kingdom of Navarre in the tenth century, was separated from Navarre in ...

and

Counts of Barcelona The Count of Barcelona ( ca, Comte de Barcelona, es, Conde de Barcelona, french: Comte de Barcelone, ) was the ruler of the County of Barcelona and also, by extension and according with the Usages of Barcelona, usages and Catalan constitutions, of ...

since 1137 when

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...

and the

County of Barcelona The County of Barcelona ( la, Comitatus Barcinonensis, ca, Comtat de Barcelona) was originally a frontier region under the rule of the Carolingian dynasty. In the 10th century, the Counts of Barcelona became progressively independent, here ...

merged by

dynastic union A dynastic union is a type of union with only two different states that are governed under the same dynasty, with their boundaries, their laws, and their interests remaining distinct from each other. Historical examples Union of Kingdom of Arag ...

by the marriage of

Raymond Berengar IV of Barcelona Ramon Berenguer IV (; c. 1114 – 6 August 1162, Anglicized Raymond Berengar IV), sometimes called ''the Saint'', was the count of Barcelona who brought about the union of the County of Barcelona with the Kingdom of Aragon to form the Crown of Ara ...

and

Petronila of Aragon Petronilla (29 June/11 August 1136 – 15 October 1173), whose name is also spelled Petronila or Petronella ( Aragonese: ''Peyronela'' or ''Payronella'', and ca, Peronella), was Queen of Aragon from the abdication of her father, Ramiro II, ...

. Among others territories of the former Crown of Aragon, the coats of arms of

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

and the

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands ( es, Islas Baleares ; or ca, Illes Balears ) are an archipelago in the Balearic Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago is an autonomous community and a province of Spain; its capital is ...

include the Four Bars.

Saint George's Cross

The first instance of a cross is found in a seal of 1288. The Saint George's Cross is shown on a 13th-century mural of the Tinell Hall, depicting by Barcelonan or Catalan soldiers. The ''Neighborly host ordinances of 1395'' ordered: «''Than for the city councillors, the present be made a long side

banner A banner can be a flag or another piece of cloth bearing a symbol, logo, slogan or another message. A flag whose design is the same as the shield in a coat of arms (but usually in a square or rectangular shape) is called a banner of arms. Also, ...

which has the sign of

Saint George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

, containing a red cross on a white field, that is badge of the city''». Thus the cross seem to have been used as a distinguishing and official of Barcelonan citizens, or perhaps slightly earlier. The Aragonese Royal Standard (and County of Barcelona, the four red stripes on a yellow field) used alongside the banner of the city worn by Barcelonan soldiers and later joining them in a quartering first depicted on the heraldic sign and later on the banner. Quartering in is a method of joining several different coats of arms together in one shield to avoid conflict with otherwise similar coats of arms but quarters are numbered from the dexter chief (the corner nearest to the right shoulder of a man standing behind the shield), proceeding across the top row, and then across the next row and so on. The arms of the citizens were placed in the most honourable quarters (the first and fourth) because their representative traditionally forced the king to negotiate his policies. In 1359 the ''

Generalitat Generalitat (, literally in English 'Generality') is the name of two major medieval and early modern political institutions and their modern-day analogues in Kingdom of Spain. The ancient Principality of Catalonia and the Kingdom of Valencia were ...

'' of Catalonia adopted the Saint George's Cross as flag and sign «''by being the ancient arms of the

''».

Number of bars

Before the Royal grant of 1345, that set the number of paletts to four, where periods when four pallets were alternated with three or two. Later the shield charged with two bars was recurrent source of discussion as a proper variant of Barcelona. In 1996 was adopted a

monochrome A monochrome or monochromatic image, object or palette is composed of one color (or values of one color). Images using only shades of grey are called grayscale (typically digital) or black-and-white (typically analog). In physics, monochrom ...

logotype as official emblem of Barcelona, a rhombus or lozenge with the cross two bars impaled, sharply defined edges and without the crown. A secondary version, for ceremonial use and shown in the seal of the city with four pallets, quartered, and a former royal crown. The versions of 1996 caused such controversy, because they were not designed to conform to traditional

heraldic Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known branc ...

rules and the content of the ''Law of local symbols of Catalonia'', that led to the Catalan Society of Genealogy, Heraldry, Sigillography, Vexillology and Nobility lodged an appeal against them. This appeal to repeal the emblems of 1996 was successful and a most appropriate version had to be created, so the current arms, quartered with four bars was adopted in 2004.

Crest

Tinença d'alcaldia d'Hostafrancs P1120530

Since the 15th century a former royal crown (without

arches An arch is a vertical curved structure that spans an elevated space and may or may not support the weight above it, or in case of a horizontal arch like an arch dam, the hydrostatic pressure against it. Arches may be synonymous with vault ...

, orb and cross) set atop the shield, as was customary in territories of the

Crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

. In the 17th century was introduced the royal crest of the Aragonese monarchs, a winged dragon, as the city Valencia or Palma have done during the previous century. In some cases, the winged dragon will in time be transformed into in a bat, ''Rat penat'', commonly used in local heraldry. Together with the crest, a helmet was situated above the shield and bears lambrequins and the former royal crown (open). By the 19th century the bat has cornered the dragon as can be seen in the ''Official Gazette of Catalonia and Barcelona'' since 1810. The bat and the former royal crown without the helmet were remained for much of the century. The removal of the bat from the coat of arms of Barcelona has been seen as a loss of an emblematic symbol shared by other capitals of the former Crown of Aragon as Palma, capital of the former

Kingdom of Mallorca The Kingdom of Majorca ( ca, Regne de Mallorca, ; es, Reino de Mallorca; la, Regnum Maioricae; french: Royaume de Majorque) was a realm on the east coast of Spain, which included certain Mediterranean islands, and which was founded by James I o ...

and Valencia, in the former homonymous kingdom.

Royal and condal crown

During 16th and 17th centuries the use of the heraldry of Barcelona was also used as coat of arms of the

Principality of Catalonia The Principality of Catalonia ( ca, Principat de Catalunya, la, Principatus Cathaloniæ, oc, Principat de Catalonha, es, Principado de Cataluña) was a Middle Ages, medieval and early modern state (polity), state in the northeastern Iberian P ...

. This use may reflect the Principality as heir of the County of Barcelona or the governmental capacity of the Generalitat over the territory of the former county. The heraldry of the city of Barcelona has depicted different types of

heraldic crown A crown is often an emblem of a sovereign state, usually a monarchy (see The Crown), but also used by some republics. A specific type of crown is employed in heraldry under strict rules. Indeed, some monarchies never had a physical crown, just ...

s, both royal or county crown have been used in different variants. The crown of count referred the history of the territory and the royal crown has been reflected the

rank Rank is the relative position, value, worth, complexity, power, importance, authority, level, etc. of a person or object within a ranking, such as: Level or position in a hierarchical organization * Academic rank * Diplomatic rank * Hierarchy * H ...

of the titular of the county. The royal crown equals city and territory as other realms of the Hispanic Monarchy. For this reason, the historiography referred to these holders as Count-King (''Comte-rei''). From 1800 to 1931, successive town and city councils used both crowns with or without the crest of the bat. After the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

, the coat of arms showed a former royal crown without the crest.Image of Barcelona, Stamps of Spanish capitals of provinces
Retrieved 28 July 2018. The current version has the modern

Spanish Royal Crown The Spanish Royal Crown may refer to either the heraldic crown, which does not exist physically, or the crown known as the ''corona tumular'', a physical crown used during Spanish royal proclamation ceremonies since the 18th century. It is neve ...

, a crown ''a circlet Or'' and precious stones, with eight rosettes of

oyster plant Oyster plant is a common name used for various flowering plants, including: *''Acanthus mollis'', (also called bear's breeches), native to the Mediterranean *''Mertensia maritima'' (also called oysterleaf), native to Europe and North America with ...

leaves, five visible, and eight pearls interspersed, closed at the top by eight half-arches, five visible, also adorned with pearls and surmounted by a cross on a globe.

Development

File:Historic Arms of Barcelona.svg, Shield
(14th–17th centuries) File:Arms of Barcelona.svg, Shield,

Lozenge Lozenge or losange may refer to: * Lozenge (shape), a type of rhombus *Throat lozenge, a tablet intended to be dissolved slowly in the mouth to suppress throat ailments *Lozenge (heraldry), a diamond-shaped object that can be placed on the field of ...

Variant
(14th–17th centuries) File:Historic Arms of Barcelona (Two Pales Variant).svg, Two Paletts Variant
(14th–17th centuries) File:Arms of Barcelona (Two Pales Variant).svg, Two Pallets and Lozenge Variant
(14th–17th centuries) File:Coat of Arms of Barcelona (17th-18th Centuries).svg, Aragonese Royal

Crest Crest or CREST may refer to: Buildings *The Crest (Huntington, New York), a historic house in Suffolk County, New York *"The Crest", an alternate name for 63 Wall Street, in Manhattan, New York *Crest Castle (Château Du Crest), Jussy, Switzerla ...

Variant
(17th–18th centuries) File:Coat of Arms of Barcelona (c.1790-c.1870).svg, Crest of the Bat Variant
(c.1790 – c.1870) File:Coat of Arms of Barcelona (c.1870-1931-1939-1984).svg, Crest of the Bat Variant
(c.1870 – 1931) File:Coat of Arms of Barcelona - Caironat (19th Century-1931).svg, Crest of the Bat and Lozenge Variant
(c.1800 – 1931) File:Coat of Arms of Barcelona (One Hundred Hall).svg, Version shown at the One Hundred Hall
(1924) File:Coat of Arms of Barcelona (c.1931-1939).svg, Common Version
(c.1931 – 1939) File:Coat of Arms of Barcelona (c.1931-1939 Two Pales Variant ).svg, Eight-Pointed Shaped Variant
(c.1931 – 1939) File:Coat of Arms of Barcelona (c.1870-1931 and 1939-1984 without Crest).svg, Four Pallets Variant
(1939–1984) File:Coat of Arms of Barcelona (c.1870-1931 and 1939-1984 Two Pales Variant without Crest).svg, Two Pallets Variant
(1939–1984) File:Coat of Arms of Barcelona (1984-1996).svg, 1984–1996 File:Coat of Arms of Barcelona (1996-2004).svg, Version of the Seal
(1996–2004) File:Emblem of Barcelona (1996-2004).svg, Common Version
(1996–2004)

Arms of the province of Barcelona

The coat of arms used by the Provincial Council of

was created by Royal Ordinance of 1 March 1871 after reviewing a report of the ''

Real Academia de la Historia The Real Academia de la Historia (RAH, 'Royal Academy of History') is a Spanish institution in Madrid that studies history "ancient and modern, political, civil, ecclesiastical, military, scientific, of letters and arts, that is to say, the diff ...

'' (English: Royal Academy of History). It was approved by the Provincial Council on 30 June 1874 (Provincial Official Journal of 10 November 1874). The

of these arms is: The provincial arms incorporated the elements of the heraldry of the city, the Saint George's Cross and the four red paletts on gold background of the Kings of Aragon and Counts of Barcelona, with a different form of combination. The sign of the Saint George's Cross was widely displayed on a lozenge by the City Council and the ''Generalitat''. The laurel wreath is a symbol of victory and honor and the olive one represents peace. In Spain many civic coats of arms use the former or the modern Royal Crown as heraldic crest. The Provincial Council has a logo commonly used as official emblem. The provincial flag contains these arms but it has horizontal stripes.

References

* Montaner Frutos, Alberto (1995
''El señal del rey de Aragón: historia y significado''
The sign of the King of Aragon: history and meaning]. Zaragoza: Institución «Fernando el Católico»
''Electronic corrected reprint (2013)''.
(in Spanish). Retrieved 22 July 2018

External links

Catalan Society of Genealogy, Heraldry, Sigillography, Vexillology and Nobility - SCGHSVN. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
''Coat of arms of Barcelona''. Heraldry of the World
Retrieved 22 July 2018. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Coat of arms of Barcelona 1329 establishments in Europe

Culture in Barcelona History of Barcelona

Province of Barcelona 14th-century establishments in Aragon